The UN’s
World Food Programme (WFP) has been taking stock of activities under its ‘Purchase
for Progress’ (P4P) initiative in Ghana, three years into implementation.
The innovative
initiative is being implemented in 20 other countries across the globe, with
the objective of linking small holder farmers to markets.
In
Ghana, the P4P initiative is built on the successes of the WFP’s local food
procurement programme – food purchases rose from US$234,000 in 2003 to US$7.1
million in 2008.
The 5
year pilot programme targets three districts in Ghana – these are mostly rice
farmers in Tamale Metropolitan and Tolon Kumbungu district in the Northern
region and maize farmers in the Ejira-Sekyeredumasi of Ashanti.
According
to Programme Officer, John Sitor, the WFP has been purchasing surplus produce of
food security crops like the cereals directly from the farmers, in order not to
distort the market.
“This project
will in the long way will help the smallholder farmers to engage in other
quality markets”, he observed. “Formally we have been purchasing from renowned
companies or traders that have to do with competitive tendering, but we thought
it that these people have been buying from the smallholder farmers. So this
programme is being developed to target the smallholder farmers directly”.
Smallholder
farmers in Ghana are often exploited by middlemen in efforts to sell produce,
due to their limited knowledge and skills in accessing markets.
Mr.
Sitor noted that the introduction of standard weighing scales has opened up opportunities
for the farmers to get most from their cereals.
The
farmers are improving their livelihoods by earning more from selling the surplus
produce to the WFP, he said.
The WFP
focuses on reducing chronic hunger and undernutrition, strengthening Ghana’s
capacity to reduce hunger, and restoring and rebuilding lives after emergencies.
Story by
Kofi Adu Domfeh
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