US government to donate food

The United States is to donate half a million mt of wheat to Africa with emphasis on Ethiopia and Eritrea to fight hunger, the US Agriculture Department announced on Wednesday. The move was part of US President George Bush's pledge in June to provide approximately US $674 million in extra aid for humanitarian emergencies in Africa. "We have a long tradition of supporting the developing world," US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, said. "Through all our efforts to fight hunger and avert famine, we can spare people in many nations from suffering." The food relief will be distributed mainly through the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and private voluntary organisations. It is expected to arrive over the next few months. The wheat, provided in combination with vegetable oil, pulses and corn- soy blend will feed 14.2 million people in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Meanwhile, the Ethiopian government's emergency arm, the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC) said cereal prices were up by more than 50 percent. "In general, the price of cereals was reported to be significantly higher than last year in many parts of the country," the DPPC's early-warning report for June states. The high prices occurred despite a joint report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and WFP saying harvests were one-fifth higher than average.