By Esme Yeh / Staff reporter
Taiwan is to donate more than 20,000 tonnes of locally grown rice to 17 countries that require food assistance this year, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Agency said on World Food Day yesterday.
Taiwan began providing international food assistance in 2002 through the Food Humanitarian Aid Program, with the program entering its 25th year this year.
Food aid from the program is offered free of charge without affecting domestic food security or international trade, it said.
A girl holds a bag of rice provided through Taiwan’s humanitarian food aid program in Haiti in an undated photograph.
Photo courtesy of the Agriculture and Food Agency
This year, the agency would grant up to 24,876 tonnes of government-stored white rice, which would be shipped to 17 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia that urgently need food assistance, it said.
The shipping and unloading of the rice would be handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, including the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, World Vision Taiwan and Good Neighbors Taiwan, the Agriculture and Food Agency said.
The NGOs would help extend the food aid to people of disadvantaged backgrounds in remote areas around the world, it said.
Each bag of rice would be printed with the national flag of Taiwan and the words “Love From Taiwan,” which is expected to warm the hearts of people around the world with food and hope amid volatile global situations, it said.
To ensure food safety for aid recipients — including elderly people living alone, refugees and orphans — the rice was subjected to food safety testing in Taiwan, with the stipulation that it meets CNS Grade 2 quality standards and has passed food safety testing, the agency said.
The agency used 10kg or 30kg drop-resistant packaging to ensure the rice grains would remain intact after long-distance transportation, it said, adding that loading for shipment had begun.
“Taiwan can help” is never just a slogan, but a regular practice that makes Taiwanese proud, the agency said.
Taiwan would continue to work with the international community to help globally based on the spirit of humanitarian care and mutual assistance, it said.