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Alfredo Muarapaz, Mozambique
 

Alfredo Muarapaz is a poor, semi-subsistence farmer in Mozambique who earned $50 when he sold his small cowpea surplus to WFP. “I used the money to buy school things for my children, dishes and clothes for my family and even some tools to improve my house,” said Muarapaz. For 2009, he hopes for a harvest of 1,760 lbs. of cowpeas. “I have not grown many beans until now, because I didn’t have a buyer,” he explained, “but now that there is a secure buyer, I will produce a lot more beans.”

WFP supports initiatives that help empower local farmers in developing countries and address long-term hunger needs. An example of this is the Purchase for Progress (P4P) program, which benefits from generous support by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. 

P4P aims to give small-scale farmers access to reliable markets and the opportunity to sell their surplus crops to WFP at competitive prices. By purchasing crops from local farmers, the program helps them increase their household incomes – a critical component in solving hunger and poverty at the very core. Buying locally also helps WFP distribute food more quickly to those who need it most. 

“It’s a win-win,” says WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran. “We help our beneficiaries who have little or no food, and we help local farmers who have little or no access to markets.” 

P4P works in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America: 

Africa: Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia 

Latin America: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua 

Asia: Afghanistan and Laos

Visit WFP.org to learn more about this program »