Some justice for the world's poor: UN agency vows to buy from poorest farmers

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UN agency vows to buy from poorest farmers
By Javier Blas in London
Published: September 25 2008 04:24 | Last updated: September 25 2008 04:24

The World Food Programme on Wednesday announced a significant shift in the way it buys agricultural commodities, saying it will now purchase from the world’s poorest farmers as it broadens its role towards development from emergency aid.

The United Nations’ agency said its new procurement policy would enable “small farmers to access reliable markets so they can sell their surplus crops at competitive prices, bolstering fragile local economies”.

The move reflects the recognition that, with some poor countries continuing to need emergency food aid for decades, the only long-term solution to resolve hunger is to boost local agriculture production, aid officials say.

Josette Sheeran, WFP head, said that the “Purchase for Progress” programme would help both poor farmers and hungry people.


Read the rest @ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/935a8ca0-8a8a-11dd-a76a-0000779fd18c.html

World Food Programme's Purchase for Progress: http://www.wfp.org/p4p/