More Food Donations Announced: 28,470 Tons to Russia Included

August 4, 2000

An agreement has been signed by U.S. officials with the International Orthodox Christian Charities, a private voluntary organization, to donate 28,470 tons of wheat flour, rice, buckwheat and vegetable oil to Russia.

IOCC plans to distribute the donated commodities during its 12-month direct distribution program in Russia, which is expected to feed approximately 480,500 of the most vulnerable individuals in Russia, including individuals in institutions. The program will target elderly pensioners, invalids, orphans, single-parent families, and multi-children families in 14 regions (Moscow city, Moscow oblast, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Vologda, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, Kaluga, Tula, Rayazan and Bryansk).

The donation will be made under USDA’s Food for Progress program, which the Foreign Agricultural Service administers. The supply period for this donation is fiscal year 2000.

Another Food for Progress donation will be made through the American National Red Cross (ARC), a private voluntary organization, to donate U.S. agricultural commodities in Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, including 7,000 metric tons of wheat flour, rice, beans and vegetable oil.

ARC plans to distribute the donated commodities during its 12-month direct distribution program, which is expected to feed approximately 76,500 individuals and families affected by tuberculosis in the Aral Sea region. Some of these recipients will be serviced through assistance provided to institutions.

From Nairobi, Kenya, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced new GSM export credits for Nigeria and additional food assistance for refugees in Kenya. Glickman is in the middle of a week-long presidential mission to Africa, where he is discussing and learning more about hunger, infrastructure and health care issues facing the continent today, while promoting agricultural trade, food security and democratic transformation.

During a dinner meeting on Tuesday, Glickman told Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo that he is extending $9 million in USDA credit guarantees to assist Nigeria with the purchase of U.S. agricultural commodities. The guarantees, which can be used to assist in the purchase of any agricultural commodity, will be made available to several Nigerian banks. In recent years, wheat has been Nigeria's largest agricultural import from the United States.

Glickman and Obasanjo also discussed President Clinton's new $300 million Global Food for Education pilot program. The initiative, which is expected to launch later this year, will use surplus U.S. agricultural products to help feed millions of school children around the world. Participating countries have not yet been selected. Glickman is expected to discuss the initiative with Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi during a meeting on Friday.

The Secretary also announced the donation of an additional 1,000 metric tons of a corn-soybean blend to help feed refugees in Kenya. The food will be donated to the UN's World Food Program for distribution at refugee camps in Kenya.