DHAKA (AFP) - The United States Sunday announced an additional 40 million dollars worth of food aid for Bangladesh to help the country tackle shortages created by last year's devastating cyclone. The donation will be spent on feeding school children and as emergency aid for victims of Cyclone Sidr that lashed the country last November, US Ambassador to Bangladesh James Moriarty said. The announcement brought the US's total food aid pledge to $110m since Oct last year, he said, adding the US is also funding an ongoing food programme of $48m for extremely poor people. At least 3,400 people were killed when the cyclone hit the coast of southwest Bangladesh. More than nine million people have been directly affected by the cyclone which caused extensive damages to crops, houses, water supplies, infrastructure and livestock. The cyclone and two successive floods last summer have damaged nearly two million tonnes of rice last year, resulting in a massive spike in prices, which left millions on the verge of starvation. Soaring global prices and moves by many rice-producing nations to limit exports have added to shortages. One former Bangladesh minister warned recently of a "silent famine" in the country, where 40 percent of the 144 million population live on a dollar a day and millions are still recovering from last year's disasters.