Washington, DC – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today that it will provide an additional $90 million to the World Food Program (WFP) in Pakistan to help 7.3 million flood-affected people.

Nancy Lindborg, the USAID Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, announced the contribution at the WFP Executive Board Meeting in Rome. “The United States has been able to use both in-kind food assistance and local procurement in this response,” Assistant Administrator Lindborg explained, “demonstrating how our new flexibility allows us to ensure aid is delivered in a way that supports a faster recovery.”

As part of the $90 million contribution, USAID is providing Food for Peace (formerly P.L. 480) Title II in-kind emergency food assistance valued at $45 million, including more than 37,000 tons of wheat flour, 6,100 tons of vegetable oil, and 2,700 tons of dried peas. To meet needs in early 2011, USAID will provide a portion of the food from a prepositioning facility abroad and is working with the United States Department of Agriculture to expedite the procurement of the remaining food.

To help address needs in the coming months, USAID is complementing its in-kind food assistance with a $45 million International Disaster Assistance grant from the Emergency Food Security Program which will allow WFP to meet immediate food assistance needs by purchasing food in local markets, including approximately 70,000 tons of wheat in Pakistan.

To date, the United States has provided more than $227 million in emergency food assistance to flood-affected Pakistanis through WFP and private voluntary organizations. This is in addition to USAID food assistance provided to populations affected by the ongoing complex emergency.

For more information about USAID assistance in Pakistan, visit http://www.usaid.gov/pakistanflooding/.