USAID chief Samantha Power to visit India amid global food crisis
New Delhi, July 23
A top US official will travel to India next week to explore the opportunity of sourcing foodgrains in order to meet Washington’s commitments to address food insecurity in African and other vulnerable countries.
Samantha Power, the head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), who will visit India from Monday to Wednesday, had last week announced more than $ 1 billion in new funding to address the global food security emergency and malnutrition.
In India, Power will meet with food security and climate experts, civil society, and government officials to discuss the global food security crisis, and the US-India development partnership. She will underscore the US partnership with the Government of India, said a US embassy announcement.
“She will participate in meetings and events demonstrating US commitment to partnering with India as a global development leader in addressing some of the world’s most pressing development challenges, such as addressing the global food security crisis, tackling the climate crisis and supporting countries in need,” it added.
The agency plans to provide a “surge” of nearly $ 1.2 billion “to meet the immediate needs faced by the people of Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia.” The money will be used to provide food staples to those in need, to give cash assistance for food purchases and sanitation kits. Power, in fact, is likely to arrive here from Nairobi.
Last week, speaking on the state of global food security and nutrition, Power said that Sri Lanka will not be the last government to fall. She said that unrest fuelled by a mix of corruption and inflation forced Sri Lanka’s President to resign and flee. “If history is any guide we know it won’t be the last Government to fall,” she had observed.
