WFP to improve its new focus on ensuring farmers benefit from direct purchases. “We now see our role as to ensure we have the commodities to supply our beneficiaries but also ensure farmers grow more and produce quality commodities and become more  food secure. The more farmers are able to produce and sell their surpluses, the less likely they are going to be hungry and that prevents these food relief operations which are very expensive. In the long run, P4P is a very effective and efficient way of bringing about food and nutrition security, as well as development,” Samkange explains.

African Agricultural Markets Facts (from AGGRA)

• Some 70 to 90 percent of farms in Africa are smallholder operations involving less than two hectares of land and they account for the bulk of staple food production.
• African farmers who sell surplus harvest routinely receive only 10 to 20 percent of the price of their products, with the rest eaten up by various transaction costs and post harvest losses.
• Africa’s regional market for food staples is valued at US $150 billion and demand is expected to double by 2020. African farmers could substantially increase their income simply by meeting this domestic demand.
• According to the 2002 Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), improving rural roads to boost market access for smallholder farmers will require an initial investment of US $62 billion over some 10 to 15 years while operation and maintenance of these assets will require an additional US $37 billion.

Beyond Food Security to Nutrition Security

Stanlake Samkange, WFP Uganda Country Director

Samkange says while WFP has been buying from surplus areas in Uganda, the organization is looking at buying a lot of produce from northern Uganda and Karamoja region, the two hunger spots in Uganda, once farmers there stabilize production of crops following the end of disruptive conflicts in these two areas.

“Our emphasis is also on not just producing the quantity, but also good quality food that people consume. For example in western parts of Uganda, we have a huge food surplus, but also high malnutrition rates. We need to ensure people receive micro nutrients in the food they eat,” he says.

To this end, the WFP has entered into a nationwide alliance with the government of Uganda and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition to increase the micronutrient food fortification capacity of food commodities in Uganda. “We want to supply food that is well fortified with micronutrients. This will benefit Uganda because it will be able to also export fortified food commodities,” Samkange says.

This means more opportunities for local farmers like Simuntu to produce food that generates a high price, and thus be able to generate better incomes from their farming. That is if these farmers get the required farm inputs, equipments to store, process and fortify, and have the infrastructure and certain contracts that help reduce the many risks of farming.

WFP Purchase for Progress Evaluation report
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More related information

WFP Purchases for progress official site

Friends of the World Food Programme

Purchase for Progress begins in Kenya

WFP’s Purchase for Progress: How Far should it go? Planetd.org

Can Bill gates Help Africa feed itself? TIME

Purchase for Progress: A way out of poverty for the World’s Poor– vita.it

Purchase for Progress Programme for farmers– UN Radio

Warehouse receipt system brings hope to farmers in Uganda

World Food programme annual report 2010

Article By Gerald Businge

This story was produced for the Africa Reporting Project

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