WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2003 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that it will donate 5,040 metric tons of U.S. agricultural commodities to World Vision, a private voluntary organization, for a child education and nutrition project in Afghanistan. The commodities, which include 2,500 tons of wheat, 1,030 tons of rice, 1,030 tons of lentils and 480 tons of vegetable oil, are part of a USDA assistance package valued at around $9 million for this project.
World Vision will use the commodities to feed 37,000 school children and 675 teachers in two impoverished provinces in Afghanistan for one year. Children in primary schools will receive take-home food packages to increase their nutritional status. This program will also improve the quality of instruction and the level of community support by providing food packages to teachers, providing classroom kits, furnishing classrooms, constructing nine new schools and promoting school gardens.
The donation will be made under the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service.
The McGovern-Dole program provides for USDA donations of agricultural commodities to promote education, child development and food security for some of the world’s poorest children. USDA expects to provide 150,000 tons of U.S. commodities to 21 countries under fiscal 2003 McGovern-Dole donation agreements.
For further information, contact Peter Tabor of FAS at (202) 720-4231, or by e-mail at Peter.Tabor@fas.usda.gov.
FAS news releases are available on the Internet at http://www.fas.usda.gov.
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