US to provide Nepal with $15 million to fight global food crisis

August 22, Kathmandu: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing $15 million to Nepal to protect vulnerable populations in the country from the escalating global food crisis.

According to the US Embassy in Kathmandu, this assistance is part of the recently announced $2.76 billion US government funding to address the global food crisis worsened by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“US President Joe Biden pledged these additional US government food security funds during the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Germany, which represents more than half of the resources that G7 leaders committed to addressing global food security at the Summit,” the US Embassy said in a press statement on Monday

In Nepal, this financial assistance will help ensure that people affected by rising prices and food shortages have enough to eat.

The assistance will also help in activities including supporting small farms to produce more food locally and providing nutrition-enhanced food for children under the age of five and pregnant women, according to the press statement.

Acting USAID Nepal Mission Director Beth Hogan said, “With yields for rice, maize, and other important crops potentially falling due to the impending fertilizer shortage, this support will have broad implications for Nepal’s agriculture sector and its farmers.”

Hogan also said that the fund would primarily help Nepal produce more food to consume and sell, thereby increasing household food security and incomes.

The US Embassy has said that USAID will be working closely with the Government of Nepal to invest these additional funds strategically so that they align with Nepal’s ongoing effort to combat food insecurity and meet the goal of sustainably reducing poverty, hunger, and malnutrition.