Expand the coverage of rice aids to include more needy groups
The AFA indicates that in order to provide food to local governments in complementary of their social support initiatives, the Agency established “Operation Directions for Domestic Food Aids” in 2003 to provide a legal basis for the continuous provision of the most current rice in the public stock to local governments free of charge. The targeted groups include low-income households, economically deprived families, and disaster-affected residents; other policies that work in tandem with rice aids are the food bank system and social caring centers administered by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2015. Since 2017, facilities like Aboriginal Health and Culture Centers and Aboriginal Family Service Centers that provide congregate meals to the elderly have also been included to widen the recipient base.
The quantity of rice released for food aids had grown from 2,474 MTs in 2015 to 3,347 MTs in 2018, an increase of 35%. As of August of this year (2019), the yearly applicants for rice aids by municipality, county, and city governments have amounted to 2,958 MTs.
Requests gate-kept by local governments for optimal utilization of public rice
The AFA points out that when releasing the most current rice in the warehouse to local governments, it also entrusts those authorities, whether at a municipality, country county, or city level, to propose viable plans to the respective AFA regional branch for rice aids. The plan should be in conjunction with the government-wide initiative to offer care to the elderly, underprivileged families, and people facing emergent adversities. Eligible operators running “Community Care Centers” that provide congregate meals or taking part in the “Food Bank System” and meet the criteria of this program are advised to apply to the local government of the recipient’s residence municipality, county, or city, to optimize the distribution of rice aids.
Central-local collaboration to provide comprehensive care for under-privileged groups
The AFA urges local governments to make good use of the received rice by channeling it to the support groups that are looking after the underprivileged eagerly in need of rice. That will greatly bolster the effect of this program.
