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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
United States Taps Emerson Trust for Humanitarian Food Relief
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-43202002-101
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2002Contact: USAID Press Office
WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2002 - The United States is responding to the emergency food situation in drought-ravaged southern Africa by utilizing the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust. The United States will release up to 300,000 metric tons of wheat from the Trust, like the previous release of 275,000 tons announced in June.
"The drought in southern Africa is the worst since 1992," said USAID Administrator Andrew S. Natsios, "the United States led the world effort to prevent the drought from becoming a famine ten years ago, and we are doing the same thing again today. With the additional resources of the Emerson Trust, the United States will provide half of the food aid that is needed through the end of this year."
Drought continues to aggravate the complex food security crisis now facing half a dozen countries in southern Africa (Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The United States is the largest donor responding to the deteriorating food situation. Since the beginning of 2002, the United States has provided $144 million in emergency humanitarian assistance, including more than 290,000 tons in food commodities.
The Emerson Trust was established as an emergency reserve to allow the United States to respond to unanticipated food crises, such as the current situation in southern Africa. The reserve is being tapped because U.S. food aid programs this fiscal year are fully allocated to meet critical needs in other parts of the world. Use of the reserve will help ensure that sufficient commodities can be provided quickly to respond to the crisis in southern Africa without undercutting U.S. food aid commitments elsewhere.
The wheat will be sold in exchange for an equivalent value of U.S. commodities that are more typically consumed by the poor in southern Africa. These commodities will be shipped as emergency food relief under P.L. 480, Title II, a program administered by USAID.
The Emerson Trust is an emergency food reserve available for humanitarian relief in developing countries and administered under the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture. The reserve was reauthorized through 2007 by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. Prior to the recent releases, the reserve held 2.5 million tons of wheat. Up to 4 million tons in any combination of wheat, rice, corn or sorghum can be held in the reserve.
USAID is the government agency providing U.S. economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
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Last Updated on: December 30, 2008 |
