By Xinhua
Dhaka : The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide approximately 90, 000 tonnes of food aid worth $67.8 million to Bangladesh this year, the agency said in a release Tuesday.
One third of the food aid will be used to assist Cyclone Sidr affected people of southern Barguna and Bagerhat districts and the rest will be distributed as part of USAID’s regular food aid programmes in the flood prone and seasonally food insecure areas, the release said.
USAID food aid programmes are aimed at helping the poorest of the poor who live in the most food insecure and vulnerable areas of the country.
The US agency has helped in building 245 multi-purpose disaster shelters in Bangladesh and also developed about 4,000 community-based disaster mitigation structures across the country.
USAID has also provided training to local disaster committees, volunteers and schoolteachers in 271 of the country’s 277 disaster-prone sub-districts.
Cyclone Sidr ravaged southern and southwestern Bangladesh Nov 15 last year, leaving over 1,000 people dead and millions homeless.