South Korea will provide food aid to four countries in the Middle East and Africa currently reeling under famine, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced Friday.

At a ceremonial event held at a port in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, Deputy Minister Kim Jong-hoon announced that a total of 50,000 tons of domestically grown rice will be distributed to Yemen, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. The shipments are expected to reach the countries by mid-May to June.

Since Korea became a member of the Food Assistance Convention last year, the government has been sending out 50,000 tons of rice each year to countries in need.

According to the World Food Program, there is a high preference among recipient countries for Korean rice as it is high in nutrition with great texture.

The ministry has also been actively improving the standard operating system of food aid. This year, jumbo-bags that can fill up large quantities of rice bags were introduced to improve the efficiency of transporting rice.

As the only country that transitioned from being a food aid recipient to a donor, Korea will continue providing rice to countries in need, the ministry explained.

By Cho Hyee-su (chohyeesu@heraldcorp.com)