WFO PRAISES MOZAMBICAN FARMERS

The United Nations World Food Programme on Tuesday praised Mozambique for its pioneering role in supporting the WFP Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative that helps connect small scale farmers to markets as well as improving the quality and supply of their products.On a visit to Mozambique to attend a conference on P4P, WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran pointed out that “Mozambique was the birthplace of our P4P programme and it is leading the way in demonstrating how WFP’s investment and support for farmers can become an engine for sustainable agricultural development”.In the past three years WFP has purchased nearly 1 billion US dollars of food from African farmers to support its programmes.Under the P4P initiative, WFP works with small farmers to enable them to be part of the WFP food supply chain. Since it began in September 2008, P4P programmes have been launched in 20 countries. Through P4P, WFP has purchased more than 120,000 tonnes of food from small scale farmers at a value of 40 million US dollars.According to Sheeran, “farmers here in Mozambique have shown how P4P can be a model for pulling vulnerable communities out of food dependency and breaking out of the cycle of poverty. We have built on the early successes of Mozambican farmers to roll out the P4P programmes, providing more than 50,000 farmers across the world with the vital skills they need to boost food security in the regions where they live”.Under the scheme, farmers receive training in improved agricultural production, post-harvest handling of crops, marketing, agricultural financing, and how to sign contracts with WFP. They also receive sacks from WFP.This year the P4P initiative in Mozambique has led to the purchase of 5,350 tonnes of maize and pulses from smallholder farmers.“The decision to gather here in Mozambique for our annual conference on P4P reflects our admiration for the role the farmers of this country have played in showing how local production can be harnessed as to pull people out of hunger and set them on the road to development,” Sheeran said.The P4P conference opened in Maputo on Monday and brings together government representatives, NGOs, and small-scale farmers.WFP’s P4P programmes are supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Howard G. Buffet Foundation, the European Commission, and the governments of Belgium, Canada, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, USA, and Saudi Arabia.