S Korea-rice aid

▲ This undated file photo provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) shows a child in Yemen holding a handful of rice donated from South Korea. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

S Korea-rice aid

S. Korea to provide 50,000 tons of rice to 6 poverty-hit nations

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has decided to donate 50,000 tons of rice to six countries suffering from poverty and food shortages, the agriculture ministry said Friday.

The rice will be sent to Yemen, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Syria and Afghanistan in cooperation with the World Food Programme (WFP) this year, as they are suffering from a food shortage caused by COVID-19, climate change and other challenges, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

South Korea will begin sending the rice to the recipients this week, which is expected to be distributed starting in July, it added.

The Seoul government has donated 50,000 tons of rice to developing nations per year following its accession to the Food Assistance Convention in 2018, which calls for promoting global food security and providing humanitarian food assistance to nations in need.

"We became a donor country 60 years after having been a recipient of aid from the WFP," the ministry said in a release. "We will further develop our food aid programs to help the world better combat hunger and poverty."

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