Brazil's National Supply Company (Conab) announced Wednesday it would donate another 200 tons of food to earthquake-hit Haiti.

According to Conab, a total of 100 tons of rice will be donated, as well as 30 tons of beans, 20 tons of cassava flour, 10 tons of pasta, 20 tons of sugar, 10 tons of powdered milk, and 20,000 liters of bottled water. The food will be divided and delivered in more than 10,000 food kits.

The latest commitment comes on top of 60 tons of food the Brazilian government has donated in the past two weeks to Haitian victims; about 80 percent of which came from Conab's stocks.

The state-owned company said it had been sending humanitarian aid to Haiti since 2004, including more than 16,000 tons of food in recent years.

The Brazilian private sector also made food donations last week. Several agribusiness companies announced the donation of 65 tons of canned meat, 13 tons of sugar, 39 tons of milk and 13 tons of orange juice. The food will be delivered to the country by air force planes in the next few days.

Additionally, a donation of 40 tons of medicine was announced this week by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a major state-owned biomedical sciences institution located in Rio de Janeiro. Among the medicine to be shipped are antibiotics, painkillers, and anti-inflammatory and antihypertensive drugs.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2010)