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U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-43202001-077
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 31, 2001Contact: USAID Press Office
Washington, D.C. - Andrew S. Natsios, Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), today announced $11.2 million for the purchase of local wheat and other food commodities in Central Asia.
USAID provided $6 million to the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) to purchase 15,000 metric tons (MT) of wheat from Kazakhstan; it will be transported to Turkmenistan, where it will be bagged for further transport and delivery to the emergency operation in Northern Afghanistan.
In addition, USAID recently signed contracts with several Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) for the local purchase of another 13,495MT of wheat and other commodities valued at $5.2 million.
These local purchases will bolster current stocks of food in Afghanistan and the region. Currently about 45,000MT of food aid is in the region and another 165,000MT of U.S. wheat en route.
Natsios, who briefed President George W. Bush Wednesday morning on the U.S. humanitarian effort, said, "We're using every available means and every available route to get food to needy Afghans before the winter sets in."
The $11.2 million is from USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance FY02 budget and is not currently part of the $320 million aid package President Bush announced for Afghanistan on October 4. Of the $320 million, $72 million has already been slated for Title II funds to purchase U.S. wheat and other commodities.
Afghanistan was the U.S. Government's number one recipient of humanitarian assistance prior to September 11, and remains so today. The United States has supplied more than 80 percent of all food aid for vulnerable Afghans through the WFP and will continue to be the leading food donor to the Afghan people.
The United States Agency for International Development is the U.S. government agency that has provided development and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 40 years.
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