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$550K for Enewetak program
Domenech
WASHINGTON, D.C—The Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs released this week a $550,000 grant for the Enewetak Food and Agriculture Program.
According to Doug Domenech, assistant secretary of the Interior for Insular and International Affairs, the grant supports the people of Enewetak in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
“[Interior] Secretary [Ryan] Zinke and I are pleased to provide continue assistance towards helping improve the quality of life for the Enewetak community,” said Domenech. “Building resiliency of local food programs is critical to food and nutrition security in Enewetak and all island communities.”
The Enewetak Food and Agriculture program was started in 1980 under the U.S. Department of Energy to assist the Enewetak community, whose population was evacuated to accommodate the U.S. nuclear testing program of the 1940s.
The funding is used to provide supplemental food for the people of Enewetak to grow and nurture local crops such as breadfruit, pandanus, and coconuts on the inhabited islands; conduct agricultural maintenance training; and transport food supplies.
Approximately 800 people live in Enewetak Atoll.
This week’s funding supplements an initial amount of $1.6 million that was provided by the Office of Insular Affairs for Enewetak in October 2017. This funding is made available on an annual basis by Congress. (PR)
