Interior Announces $550,000 in Grant Assistance for Enewetak Atoll Food and Agriculture Program

WASHINGTON – Doug Domenech, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular and International Affairs, this week announced $550,000 in grant assistance for the Enewetak Food and Agriculture Program, which supports the people of Enewetak in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).

“Secretary Zinke and I are pleased to provide continue assistance towards helping improve the quality of life for the Enewetak community,” said Assistant Secretary Domenech.  “Building resiliency of local food programs is critical to food and nutrition security in Enewetak and all island communities,” added Domenech.

The Enewetak Food and Agriculture program was first 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 $1,565,070 that was provided by the Office of Insular Affairs for Enewetak in October 2017.  This funding is made available on an annual basis by the United States Congress.

The Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, and the Office of Insular Affairs carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Additionally, OIA administers and oversees Federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. OIA supports the Secretary's mission of Fulfilling Trust and Insular Responsibilities through balancing efforts and limited resources towards stronger economic and health capacities, and fiscal accountability in the U.S. insular areas.