ARLINGTON, VA – U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) welcomes the announcement of the award of 20,000 metric tons (MT) (735,000 bushels) for emergency feeding programs under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) administration of the Food for Peace program.
“We appreciate the efforts of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg and their teams for their hard work to bring this first award of wheat under the USDA’s administration of the Food for Peace program,” said Dalton Henry, USW vice president of communications and policy.
The wheat is destined for emergency feeding programs in East Africa, which will be delivered by the World Food Program. Shipment is expected to take place later this summer along with other commodities, including rice and sorghum.
“This is the first of hopefully many shipments under the USDA’s administration of the Food for Peace program,” said Amanda Hoey, chief executive officer of the Oregon Wheat Commission and chair of the USW Food Aid Working Group. “Through this program, we reaffirm to the world that the United States is more than a seller of grain, but a dedicated partner in feeding millions of hungry people around the world.”
Food for Peace, also known as Public Law 480, was signed into law in 1954 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Since the program’s inception, U.S.-grown wheat has remained an important commodity for food assistance, often representing half of the bulk in-kind aid and routinely using around one million metric tons of U.S. wheat annually.
In December 2025, the USDA and the U.S. Department of State signed an interagency agreement to USDA to assume administration of the Food for Peace program. The USDA already operates the other in-kind international feeding programs, including the school feeding-focused McGovern-Dole Food for Education and the development-focused Food for Progress programs.
Like these other programs, Food for Peace is authorized by the Farm Bill and falls under the jurisdiction of the agricultural appropriations subcommittees, and a permanent shift of program administration to USDA would require Congressional action.
“The USDA’s administration of the Food for Peace program aligns with the agency’s agricultural focus and technical expertise for this flagship program,” Henry said. “We look forward to the continuation of the program’s successful track record of humanitarian assistance, including those who will be future customers for U.S. wheat farmers.”
In addition to the commodities already awarded, U.S. Wheat also welcomed USDA’s announcement of a second tranche of funding for the Food for Peace program. Under the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), USDA will accept applications from feeding programs working in the Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya and Rwanda.
“USDA is working to return Food for Peace to its core functions,” said Deputy Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Michelle Bekkering in the release. “This funding will more responsibly deliver lifesaving food assistance with high-quality American commodities, helping American farmers and producers at home and people in need across the world.”
