WFP To Receive 3 Million Nutrition Bars For Nepal’s Quake Victims
The food bars, nutritionally-fortified cereal bars called “high-energy biscuits,” or HEBs, will arrive by air from Dhaka, Bangladesh. They are being provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“Yet again, the United States is stepping up when people are in need. In offering these biscuits just hours after the quake, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has shown itself to be the best kind of donor – fast, flexible and responsive — just as it was after the Philippines typhoon,” says WFP Washington Director Jon Brause. “These biscuits will help to reduce the suffering among people who have already lost so much.”
HEBs are an especially useful form of emergency food assistance in the days following a natural disaster because they are ready to eat – they do not need cooking, refrigeration or water. These particular 75-mg HEBs have 338 kilo-calories each – and thus provide instant energy.
Due to weight restrictions at Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport, the bars will arrive on multiple flights.
WFP has distributed HEBs and rice to some 267,000 people, and has positioned supplies to feed about half a million people in the worst-affected areas, but time is of the essence for those who have lost everything. WFP is boosting its air and land assets to reach more people with both food and shelter in the coming days.
WFP urgently needs US$116.6 million to provide food for 1.4 million affected people for three months.
You can support WFP’s work in Nepal by making a donation at www.wfpusa.org/Nepal.
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