Washington D.C. - In order to respond more rapidly to global food emergencies, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the expansion of its worldwide food aid warehouse program last week. The Agency awarded a contract valued at up to $50 million to Agility Logistics, Inc. of Virginia.

USAID's warehouse program supports the strategic prepositioning of Food for Peace commodities by increasing the number of warehouses from two up to five in regions that show historic need or are situated along trade routes. Under the new program, the Agency expects to store packaged and bulk food commodities, as needed, in at least five warehouses throughout Africa, in South Asia, and within the United States.

"Prepositioning warehouses are an integral part of USAID's food aid program," says Jeff Borns, the Director of Food for Peace. "They offer USAID the capability to significantly reduce transit times of food commodities in the midst of a crisis."

USAID uses prepositioning sites to maintain a continuous flow of vital food aid. The Agency stores commonly needed commodities in the prepositioning warehouses and, as needs arise, ships the food directly from the warehouse to the region in need.

Expansion of the USAID prepositioning program was made possible by new authorities provided by Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill.

The United States is the largest provider of international food aid worldwide. In FY 2008 alone, USAID provided 2.6 million metric tons of food, valued at more than $2.6 billion, which benefitted approximately 56 million people in 49 countries on four continents. For more information about USAID food aid programs, visit http://transition.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/ffp/ .