DHAKA, 29 November 2007 — Bangladesh has sought half a million tons of food for hungry cyclone survivors, an official said yesterday, as several hundred victims demonstrated to demand better distribution of aid.

The Bangladesh government said it has requested the aid from the international community as concerns mount over a shortfall of staples such as rice to feed thousands of people devastated by the Nov. 15 cyclone.

“We need half a million tons of food by the end of March and already some donors have pledged to give substantial food aid,” Disaster Management Ministry official Ayub Mia said.

“We have told the donors that if you want to give aid give us food aid.” At least 3,400 people were killed and some 1,700 are still missing after the cyclone swept through impoverished southern Bangladesh in a disaster that also left more than 360,000 people homeless.

The World Food Program has already promised 71,000 tons and the Indian government 50,000 tons. USAID, the US government’s international development arm, had also pledged $10 million worth of food.

The request for additional food came as frustration mounted over an apparent inadequate supply of aid, with protesters in southern Barguna town, carrying banners that read: “We survived the cyclone but will probably die this time.”

“They were demanding more relief items. They said they had not received enough aid,” local police chief Sohrab Ali said of the four-hour protest.

They told local reporters that despite the huge amounts of aid apparently flooding into the area, they had received only minimal amounts of rice in the nearly two weeks since the cyclone.

“We are in a desperate state,” one protester said.

Driven by hunger, hundreds of cyclone survivors staged noisy demonstration in Barguna in front of the local press club. Some 500 men, women and children gathered at the scene and shouted slogans.

Harunur Rashid, a small trader, said: “A week after the cyclone, a few in the village received just one and a half kilo of rice per family. We haven’t received any help from anyone since then.”

The country’s military-led relief effort swung into a higher gear earlier this week after logistical problems, including rivers and roads blocked with debris from the cyclone, that had hampered initial operations eased.

Bangladesh’s interim government Agriculture Minister C.S. Karim said the cyclone had left the country with a “substantial” shortfall in rice.

“The cyclone has destroyed crops in huge parts of the southern region. In some places, the only yearly crop has been damaged,” he told AFP.

About 1.6 million hectares (four million acres) of crops have been lost, according to preliminary government estimates.

USAID country head in Bangladesh Denise Rollins said the United States had already responded with food aid after the government’s appeal.

“The (Bangladesh) government has identified food as a major issue. The appeal has gone out and the United States government has responded with food aid worth $10 million,” Rollins said while handing over food and relief items to government officials in Dhaka.

UN coordinator in Bangladesh Renata Lok Dessallien has said food rather than money was the priority as the government’s corruption crackdown launched earlier this year had put in place time-consuming procurement procedures.