THE World Food Programme (WFP) is set to
change the way it buys food, launching a plan to purchase directly from
some of the world's poorest farmers.
Its new procurement policy will mean the UN
will no longer buy in food from wealthy nations to redistribute to the
poor, but will instead buy it from deprived areas of sub-Saharan Africa
and Central America.
The 'Purchase for Progress' scheme is being
funded to the tune of 42 million UK Pounds in a public-private partnership
between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett
Foundation and the Belgian government.
WFP executive director
Josette Sheeran said: "The world's poor are reeling under the impact of
high food and fuel prices, and buying food assistance from developing
world farmers is the right solution at the right time.
"Purchase
for Progress is win-win, we help our beneficiaries who have little or no
food and we help local farmers who have little or no access to markets
where they can sell their crops."
The
move is in contrast to its current policy where it buys food from
developed nations such as the US and from large scale farms in
developing countries such as India.
Under the new scheme, the
programme will specifically buy from smallholders and the UN claims the
move will help boost agricultural production locally and will provide a
viable income for many farmers.
Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation said: "Developing new ways for WFP to
purchase food locally represents a major step toward sustainable change
that could eventually benefit millions of poor rural households in
Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions."
The programme will launch
in 21 pilot countries over the next five years, as the WFP explores
different ways to use its purchasing power to maximize gains for small
farmers before rolling the programme out on a permanent basis.