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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Food Assistance to Iraq
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
Press: (202) 712-4320
Public Information: (202) 712-4810
2003-075
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2003
As part of the Coalition Provisional Authority's (CPA) overall assistance to Iraq, the U.S. government has played a lead role in helping to avert a humanitarian crisis from occurring throughout the country. U.S. government efforts continue to focus on the food needs of the country. Over 60 percent of Iraqis were dependent on food aid prior to the beginning of the conflict.
Using an extensive network of Iraqi food distributors and relying on food commodities and cash provided by the U.S. government, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and the Iraqi Ministry of Trade completed the first two months of post-conflict food ration distributions in June and July without major disruptions. The August ration distributions are currently underway.
The Public Distribution System (PDS) for food assistance in Iraq was re-established in June for the first time since the supply and delivery of food commodities to Iraqi citizens was stopped during military operations. Prior to the conflict, food commodities were mostly imported through the U.N. Oil-for-Food program and rationed out through the PDS, a delivery system consisting of storage warehouses, grain silos, trucking contractors, food distributors or agents, and a centralized database and ration card system designed to provide rations to all 26 million Iraqis. The monthly ration costs 250 Iraqi dinars (approximately 12 cents) per person, and is distributed by 44,000 food and flour agents throughout the country.
The U.S. has donated approximately $458 million in food and cash to ensure the successful delivery of food aid in post-conflict Iraq. With assistance from the U.S. government and coalition forces in Iraq, the PDS is now operational in all 18 governorates and continues to receive food through a WFP-established pipeline capable of providing more than 480,000 metric tons of food per month. As of July 25, the WFP had dispatched more than 1.7 million metric tons of food since the beginning of operations, including 330,000 metric tons purchased with a U.S. government cash contribution of $200 million. The monthly rations distributed through the PDS to the Iraqi people include flour, rice, pulses (legumes), cooking oil, sugar and tea. The July distribution will also include milk powder provided by the United States.
The WFP is working with Iraq's Ministry of Trade Ration Registration Centers in the southern governorates to identify and register Iraqis who had been denied access to the PDS. Many of these were political dissidents, men who had deserted or refused to join Saddam Hussein's army, and their families. Unregistered residents will be provisionally registered at the governorate level while their documentation is completed and recorded at the Ministry of Trade in Baghdad. With their governorate registration they will be able to receive full PDS rations.
The WFP continues to increase the use of the port facilities of Umm Qasr for critical food dispatches into Iraq. The port has been under extensive renovation by coalition forces and USAID partners since the days immediately following the cessation of major hostilities. Umm Qasr accounted for approximately 15 percent of cargo moving into Iraq in July. This increase in the use of port facilities contributes to the rehabilitation of the port and is helping to create employment opportunities for Iraqi workers in that area. The shift in WFP's logistics' focus to Umm Qasr also means that the role of other transport corridors in the region will eventually decrease.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
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