(NAFB) – The Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service awarded nearly $53 million to state and local agencies and partners to enhance the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

The grants, released throughout August and September 2021, help ensure program operators and partners have the resources, support, and capacity to deliver SNAP benefits efficiently and effectively.

Food and Nutrition Service administrator Cindy Long says, “SNAP represents a critical component of America’s food safety net – and now more than ever, we need to ensure that safety net is well-supported.”

The grants focused on improving efficiency, program integrity, data and analysis, customer service, SNAP Employment and Training programs, and nutrition. Additionally, the grants include 3.7 million awarded to the National Association of Farmers’ Markets Nutrition Programs, a nonprofit that works with the farmers market community to support farmers interested in offering online payment using SNAP benefits.

More than 42.3 million Americans rely on SNAP benefits to afford food.