WASHINGTON, DC - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide additional food assistance to Liberia for refugees who have fled post-election violence in Cote d'Ivoire. Soon after the violent outbreak, USAID's Office of Food for Peace authorized the use of food commodities already in Liberia for emergency food assistance for the first Ivorian refugees who crossed the border. Now, USAID is providing an additional $3 million to the World Food Program (WFP) to help feed more than 30,000 refugees already in Liberia. The additional funding will provide an estimated 2,100 tons of food aid to help meet the needs of new refugees.

"This contribution will help feed tens of thousands who have fled Cote d'Ivoire in the aftermath of post-election violence," said Nancy Lindborg, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance. "As the situation in Cote d'Ivoire remains unstable, we will work with our partners to provide assistance to those who have left their homeland fearing for their lives. Our contribution reinforces our mission to provide emergency assistance to crises around the world."

USAID responds to global food insecurity by providing both emergency food assistance to help people affected by conflicts and natural disasters and longer-term development food assistance to address the underlying causes of hunger. In FY 2010, USAID's Office of Food for Peace provided over $2.1 billion in food assistance, including approximately 2.1 million tons of Title II food aid as part of programs valued at approximately $1.9 billion in 48 countries, as well as $244 million in grants in 17 countries for local and regional procurement of food commodities, food vouchers and cash transfers under the new Emergency Food Security Program.

Some of the commodities going to Liberia will come from USAID's global supply chain system under which USAID rotates 100,000 tons of food aid commodities through six prepositioning sites around the world. When food aid is needed - whether for a continuing emergency or a new crisis - USAID uses commodities from the prepositioning sites, and then refills the sites with new orders. By instituting this system on a large, global scale, USAID can supply food aid quickly.

For more information about USAID, visit www.usaid.gov.