DHAKA: The US Ambassador to Dhaka Dan W Mozena Wednesday announced the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide 26 million USD through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to benefit 130,000 school children in the poorest areas of Bangladesh. 

The contribution is part of the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Programme. 

Ambassador Mozena made the announcement during a visit to Hashilkandi Government Primary School in Gaibanda District. 

Primary & Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman MP and WFP Representative Christa Räder were among others present in the programme.

“USDA has been a reliable partner and donor to school feeding in Bangladesh since the programme’s inception in 2001,” Räder said at the school. 

Räder also said “WFP has not only helped millions of children to attend school, but has also helped build the capacity of the Government of Bangladesh to deliver a national school feeding programme. Today, the government is reaching almost twice as many children as WFP. USDA has played a vital role in this success story.”

Throughout Bangladesh, WFP supports 1 million children in primary and pre-primary schools, while the Government of Bangladesh reaches 1.8 million. The students receive vitamin- and mineral-enriched biscuits every day at school. All the biscuits are produced in Bangladesh.

Distributions of nutritious food at school encourage children to come to class as well as maintaining their parents’ support, which in turn improves enrolment and attendance rates.  Such food also alleviates short-term hunger, helping children to concentrate better on their lessons, while providing them with crucial vitamins and minerals that they might otherwise lack in their diet.

Since 2001, USDA has contributed more than US$78 million, including 150,000 metric tons of wheat to school feeding in Bangladesh through WFP. 

BDST: 1500 HRS, APR 30, 2014