UN to buy surplus food from poorer producers

Mail & Guardian Online - September 28, 2008

More than 350,000 small-scale farmers in Africa and Central America will soon begin selling produce to the UN in an initiative that could transform the way food aid is purchased.

Announcing the five-year $76-million pilot project earlier this week, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said it would buy surplus crops from low-income farmers in 21 countries to help boost fragile economies. The food will be used for regional hunger emergencies and safety-net schemes, such as school feeding projects.

Although the WFP currently buys about 80% of its stocks locally in the developing world, virtually all of them come from traders and large-scale farmers. Read More.