USDA seeks proposals for Haiti, Afghanistan aid

USDA seeks proposals for Haiti, Afghanistan aid    The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service is seeking proposals to provide assistance to Haiti and Afghanistan through the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program from nonprofit charitable organizations, cooperatives, the United Nations World Food Program, and other international groups.
   Up to $20 million is available through the program this fiscal year.
   'The United States is committed to long-term relief and recovery efforts in Haiti in the aftermath of the January earthquake, and I recently traveled to Afghanistan and met with senior Afghan officials to reiterate our commitment to helping rebuild the agricultural economy there after decades of conflict and upheaval,' said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in a statement on Wednesday.

Vilsack

   Proposals are due the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) by April 30. For more details, access the FAS Web site.
   The McGovern-Dole program helps support education, child development and food security in low-income, food-deficit countries that are committed to universal education. It provides for donations of U.S. agricultural products, as well as financial and technical assistance for school feeding and maternal and child nutrition projects.
   Thirty-two active agreements are funded with 15 cooperating sponsors in 28 countries, assisting more than 5 million people, the agency said.