Deep Roots

[

] 37

Catalysing market development through

smallholder-friendly procurement

Ken Davies, Global Coordinator – Purchase for Progress, United Nations World Food Programme

s the world’s largest humanitarian agency, the

World Food Programme (WFP) is a major buyer

of staple food. In 2013 alone, WFP bought some

US$1.16 billion worth of commodities, 80 per cent of

which were supplied by traders in developing coun-

tries, injecting revenue into local economies. To explore

the best ways of extending these economic benefits to

small-scale farm families and their communities, WFP

launched the Purchase for Progress (P4P) pilot in

September 2008.

The rationale behind P4P is to link WFP’s demand for staple

food commodities, such as cereals, pulses and blended foods,

with the technical expertise of a wide range of partners.

This collaboration provides smallholders with the skills and

knowledge to improve their agricultural productivity and an

incentive to do so, as they have an assured market in which

to sell their surplus crops.

So far, P4P has reached more than 1 million farmers

in 20 diverse countries. However, the benefits of small-

holder-friendly procurement models are widely extended

by catalysing further investment by the public and private

sectors. While P4P has showcased this potential, a global

scale-up of support to family farmers is necessary to improve

food security and promote inclusive growth.

To best inform future efforts, P4P has emphasized an

honest and transparent examination of what works and what

does not. Throughout the five-year pilot, P4P has studied

and documented the most effective ways of linking small-

holder farmers’ organizations to formal markets, and how

an institutional procurement footprint can be leveraged to

promote sustainable agricultural and market development.

Partnerships along the value chain

An essential part of P4P’s work has been coordinating and

facilitating some 500 partnerships across the staple food

Image: WFP/Charlie Barnwell

Image:WFP/Jiro Ose

Smallholders from the IKURU farmers’ organization in Mozambique undergo

training in storage and post-harvest handling

Alazar Yimar, 45, and his wife Inatfanta Damasey, 32, shortly after marketing

100kg of white maize through the Kuch Cooperative in Gidan Village, Ethiopia

eep

oots