Manila, April 10 -- The Philippines is among seven "priority countries" for new US international food assistance programs, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Friday.

No funding details have been released, but Manila joins Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ecuador, Morocco, Sri Lanka and Thailand under the USDA's Food for Progress program.

The program, implemented by the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), works with eligible organizations through cooperative agreements to carry out field-based projects that support agricultural, economic, and infrastructure development while promoting US trade.

For fiscal year 2026, the program expects to award up to USD226 million in new agreements for five-year projects worth USD28 million t...