Ambassador Samantha Power
May 07, 2021
ARLINGTON, VA – In her inaugural address to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) earlier this week, new administrator Ambassador Samantha Power lauded the agency for its “bedrock belief that America could be a powerful force for good in the world,” and for “getting close to complex challenges that escape easy solutions.”
USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward echoed similar sentiments in a welcome letter to Ambassador Power, expressing the commitment USA Rice has made to battling global hunger and malnutrition. Ward provided Power with a review of USA Rice’s history in providing rice to vulnerable populations around the world, and expressed the desire to continue to work in close partnership with USAID to address the multiple challenges to global food security.
Ambassador Power served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations during the Obama Administration, and was the senior director for human rights and multilateral affairs at the National Security Council. In her new role, Power noted the triple threat of poverty and violence in Central America, climate change, and the rise of authoritarian regimes around the world as contributing to an increasingly worrisome global outlook that will require significant humanitarian response including food assistance.
USA Rice has a long-standing partnership with USAID as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), providing critical food supplies for both long-term development programs and, more recently, for emergency response with fortified rice.
“It’s important that we emphasize our historical collaboration and track record whenever there is a change in personnel with a new administration,” said USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward, who penned the letter on behalf of the organization. “We value our long-standing relationship with USAID, helping to alleviate hunger by providing rice and fortified rice to vulnerable populations around the world, particularly in these times of unprecedented challenges.”
USA Rice food aid tonnage is 123,980 MT for FY21 to date (FY is October 2020 through September 2021), valued at $67.9 million.