The US$23 million programme is designed to cover 2.6 million poverty-stricken people, mainly in the country's remote and mountainous areas in central and western provinces.

The project aims to enable people to increase food production and rural infrastructure through food-for-work activities, including irrigation, land improvement and drinking water supply.

Food-for-training programmes will be given primarily to women to improve their agricultural skills, literacy and health.

According to the agreement, the Chinese Government will cover the transportation and delivery costs for the donated food.

Another UN agency, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), will co-finance the project with preferential loans of US$84 million, most of them being petty loans to the poor or for use in infrastructure construction.

This operational contract is the first one under the WFP Country Programme for China 2001-05 that was approved last year.

Under the Country Programme, WFP promised to provide China's western area with 340,000 tons of wheat in support of integrated rural development and 200,000 tons of food to feed children at school.

WFP has been a close partner of the Chinese Government in its efforts to reduce poverty, said Zhao Longyue, deputy-director of the International Co-operation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.

"The co-operation between WFP and China since 1979 has helped improve the social and economic development of project areas and bring new management concepts to China's agricultural production," Zhao said.

(China Daily February 9, 2002)