en.Wedoany.com Reported - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-administered Food for Peace program completed a food aid shipment to Africa on August 5, with a cargo vessel loaded with American grain departing from the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana. Representatives from the rice, wheat, and milling industries witnessed the loading of 28,420 metric tons of rice. The vessel then sailed to Houston to load an additional 20,000 metric tons of wheat, with the final destination being Kenya. U.S. officials stated that this shipment of wheat and rice is expected to feed more than 1 million Kenyans facing hunger this year.
Gary Millershaski, president of U.S. Wheat Associates and a Kansas wheat farmer, said the bulk carrier will carry American-grown wheat across the ocean to help feed hungry families. He noted that as a farmer, this reinforces the lesson he learned growing up on a farm: if a neighbor is in trouble, you lend a hand.
The Food for Peace program is authorized by the farm bill and funded through agricultural appropriations. After a year of uncertainty over the program's future in December 2025 and a sharp decline in food aid shipments, a cross-agency agreement allowed the USDA to take the lead in operating the program. A coalition of more than 80 organizations has advocated for permanently transferring management of Food for Peace Title II to the USDA, citing its strong track record in managing all other U.S. in-kind food aid programs.
Kim Cooper, vice president of government affairs at the North American Millers' Association (NAMA), said the program must always remain a top priority, and Congress should make the USDA's operation of the program permanent in the next farm bill, enabling American farmers, millers, and mariners to continue serving as the link between U.S.-grown grain and highly nutritious products that help feed people facing famine emergencies around the world.
John Owen, president of USA Rice, said that at a time when the rice market urgently needs assistance, this in-kind commodity donation provides a boost to the industry and fosters greater optimism about the future of the Food for Peace program under USDA leadership. He encouraged Congress to permanently transfer the program to the USDA during farm bill deliberations to ensure it continues delivering American-grown agricultural products to food-insecure families everywhere.
Earlier this year, as part of the program, 9,200 metric tons of U.S. wheat and 37,700 metric tons of sorghum were shipped to Ethiopia.
