Purchase
from
Africans for
Africa
PHASE I LEARNING
AND RESULTS REPORT
FEBRUARY 2012
DECEMBER 2013
Programme title: “Promoting
Target countries: Ethiopia,
local food purchases for food
Malawi, Mozambique, Niger
assistance in the African
and Senegal
continent: Purchase from
Africans for Africa (PAA
Programme duration (Phase
Africa)”
I): Started: 21 February 2012
Finished: 31 December 2013
Programme partners:
Federative Republic of Brazil,
Total programme budget
United Kingdom of Great
(Phase I): USD 4,584,685
Britain and Northern Ireland,
Food and Agriculture
Contribution (Brazil)
Organization of the United
Total contribution:
Nations (FAO), World Food
USD 3,666,963
Programme (WFP) and the
FAO: USD 2,233,371
Federal Democratic Republic
WFP: USD 1,433,592
of Ethiopia, the Republic of
Contribution (DFID)
Malawi, the Republic of
WFP: USD 917, 722
Mozambique, the Republic of
Niger and the Republic of
Senegal.
1
FOREWORD
Learning how to combine productive inclusion for family farmers with food assistance and
social protection: an important part of Brazil’s effort to fight hunger, which recently
culminated in the country’s promotion in FAO’s 2014 Hunger Map to territory free of
hunger. Thanks to the hard work of UN agencies devoted to promote food and nutrition
security, to the commitment and political will of countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America,
and to the strategic vision and trust of international development partners, Brazil has been
able to share this learning through horizontal cooperation.
“EXPERIENCES WITH
The Brazilian government and DFID have been working with WFP and FAO since 2012 to
support the establishment of the PAA Africa Programme. Operating in 5 African countries
(Niger, Senegal, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Malawi) and inspired by Brazil's local food
purchasing programme, PAA supports what were subsistence family farmers break into local
markets by providing a guaranteed market and a local source of food for schools. For DFID,
it is one strand of the commitment made by the UK Prime Minister agreed with the Brazilian
President in 2012 to act as global advocates for combating hunger and under-nutrition.
INSTITUTIONAL
MARKETS AND
LOCAL FOOD
PROCUREMENT FOR
SCHOOL FEEDING
Apart from the promising operational results that you will see in this report, we believe that
PAA Africa’s contribution is further reaching for an agenda of advancing institutional
markets. Strengthening political recognition around the relevance of local food
procurement, fine-tuning collaboration between FAO and WFP, supporting spaces for civil
society participation are some of the aspects of PAA’s value added, which is also expressed
in the contributions to Brazil’s humanitarian cooperation, especially regarding sustainability,
social participation and intersectoriality.
ARE SPREADING
THROUGHOUT THE
DEVELOPING
WORLD. WE HOPE
THAT PAA AFRICA
CONTINUES TO BE A
RELEVANT PIECE OF
Through PAA Africa, Brazil has been able to mobilize technical and political support to
foster local food procurement programmes and policies led by the African governments, in
dialogue with civil society. And DFID through the Global Development Partnership
Programme (GDPP) fosters these efforts supporting the learning component of the
programme, in particular the design at national level of local food procurement strategies
and the promotion of cross-country exchange of related experiences. THIS PROCESS”
It is rewarding to see that in the International Year of Family Farming, initiatives that put
family farmers at the centre of fighting hunger are gaining more and more momentum. As
of now, experiences with institutional markets and local food procurement for school
feeding are spreading throughout the developing world. We hope that PAA Africa continues
to be a relevant piece of this process.
Milton Rondó Filho
General-Coordinator of International
Actions to Fight Hunger
Ministry of External Relations of Brazil
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
Indranil Chakrabarti
International Cooperation and
Development Counsellor
United Kingdom’s Department for
International Development
2
2
CONTENTS
3. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................05
4. PAA AFRICA AT A GLANCE...............................................................................07
5. SUPPORT TO PRODUCTION: STRENGTHENING SMALL SCALE FAMILY
FARMING.......................................................................................................10
6. LOCAL PROCUREMENT AND SUPPORT TO SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMMES...................................................................13
7. NATIONALLY OWNED LOCAL FOOD PURCHASE PROGRAMMES FROM SMALL-SCALE
FAMILY FARMERS: KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AND STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS FOR
ACTION.........................................................................................................15
8. CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED...............................................................18
9. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PHASE II..................................................................20
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
3
"Communities feel this
programme is their own. People
know their production is being
eaten by their children. That gives
them a good feeling."
- Thomas Woldemichael, principal,
Hanja Chefa Primary School, Ethiopia
“The PAA project has benefited us
100%. Today, we are provided
seeds, we grow the rice which we
peel ourselves and resell to WFP
which then gives it back to our
children in school canteens.”
- Mamadou Diallo, president of the
Bandafassi Farmers’ Union, Senegal
“Finally, the yield raised to 1.6
tonnes that worth about 1280
USD per hectare. As compared
to previous years, my income
doubled!”
- Dawit Hanchacha, farmer, Ethiopia
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
4
3
INTRODUCTION
The Purchase from Africans for Africa (PAA
Africa) Programme is working in partnership with
governments, UN agencies and civil society to
link food assistance in schools to support to local
agriculture. Working at three levels – policy,
programming and implementation – PAA has
been coordinating efforts to support small-scale
famers’ access to institutional markets and
promoting the food security of students.
With financial support from the Government of
Brazil and United Kingdom’s Department for
International Development (DFID), PAA Africa
has been partnering with Ethiopia, Malawi,
Mozambique, Niger and Senegal, counting on
the technical and operational expertise of the
United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and the World Food
Programme’s Purchase for Progress (P4P).
Inspired by the lessons learned from Brazil’s Zero
Hunger initiative to eradicate hunger and
promote food and nutrition security, PAA Africa
is a result of the commitment made by the
Government of Brazil during the High Level
Brazil−Africa Dialogue on Food Security,
Fighting Hunger and Rural Development
(Brasilia, May 2010). Since its launch, the PAA
Africa Programme seeks to promote the human
right to adequate food by reducing the social
and nutritional vulnerability of poor, small-scale
farmers and school pupils.
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
This Phase I Learning and Results Report
highlights the main activities developed by the
PAA Africa Programme during its first phase of
execution, revealing some of the challenges,
lessons learned and perspectives for the second
phase. So far, the Programme has engaged
approximately 5,500 farmers in agricultural
activities and benefited over 128,000 students
with food procured locally. By combining
operations with knowledge sharing and capacity
building activities, it is contributing to the
development of a twin-track approach for food
security, which allows for meeting the immediate
food needs of students while enhancing local
food production linked to institutional food
procurement. Furthermore, it promotes stronger
local food markets, which combined with longterm policies can improve emergency responses,
contributing to build more resilient communities
and help prevent future food crises.
Aiming at contributing to the food security and
income generation of small-scale farmers, the
PAA Africa Programme’s scope adds to the
ongoing efforts to achieve the global Zero
Hunger Challenge in the region and the
dispositions of the High Level Meeting on
Renewed Partnership for a Unified Approach to
End Hunger in Africa. Based on South-South
cooperation exchanges, and building on Brazil's
learning process, PAA Africa engages partner
countries to share knowledge and to discuss the
best-tailored solutions to the diverse African
countries’ contexts.
6
TABLE 1. Summary of PAA Africa operational results
AT A GLANCE
Ethiopia
Promoting food security
and increasing farmers’
income through market
integration are at the
center of the agriculture
sector policy. Home
grown school feeding is
recommended at the
country’s national
nutrition programme
A communitybased seed
multiplication
scheme was
established and
2160
productivity
FARMERS
raised by 50%
The Bureau of
Education (BoE)
purchased 311 MT of
the product from a
P4P supported
cooperative union,
with funds
transferred from
WFP
Local food
procurement (LFP)
could contribute to
strengthening
ongoing efforts on
social protection, as
pointed by the
technical
assessment
AGGREGATION
Experimenting with
LFP at the
decentralized level
inspired SNNPR
Bureau of Education
to include school
feeding in the
government budget
COOPERATIVE
Supported by
FAO and the
Bureau of
Agriculture,
farmers
PROCESSING produced 590
MT of beans
UNION
AGREEMENT
7 SCHOOLS
Primary
Cooperative
WFP supported the
BoE’s capacitybuilding on food
procurement
procedures, quality
control, storage,
and monitoring
8949
STUDENTS
School officials
were also
trained on food
handling and
management
7
Senegal
Following the
experience of PAA
in Senegal, WFP
leveraged local
food procurement
at country level
National actors
jointly elaborated an
advocacy document
to steer the
expansion of the
programme in the
country
took part in
trainings and
received inputs
1,000
farmers
producing
625 MT of
paddy
(supported by FAO +
local NGO + Ministry
of Agriculture)
partially
supplying
168
schools
of which 100 MT
were bought by
WFP through PAA
PAA)is)in)line)with)
the)recently)adopted)
National)School)
Feding)Programme)
(PRONAE))to)be)
tested)in)12)schools)
throughout)the)
country
20)farmers)
associations)
(FA))were)
supported)to)
produce)maize
(by FAO + district
43%
agriculture
increase in
service)
productivity
270$MT$of$
maize$were$
purchased$
by$WFP$
with$PAA$
funds
rice
second'level*
associations
Two)schools)of)the)
175)in)Tete)are)
pilots)of)PRONAE,)
aimed)at)testing)
possibilities)to)buy)
fresh)products)
from)local)farmers
To)reduce)
farmers’)losses,)
and)improve)
household)food)
security)the)
project)
promoted)the)
construction)of)
91)clay)silos
Gorongosa)
silo
holds up to
1MT of grains
With)P4P)support,)
WFP)
experimented)
with)direct)
purchase)
modalities,)closer)
to)farmers.
Fostering school
feeding, the
strengthening of
logistics and budget
allocation for local
food purchases set
the tone for an
expansion phase
an increase of
over 300% in
productivity
that provide free
school meals to
22,999 children
One)of)the)
priorities)for)PAA)
national)
consultative)
group)is)to)
propose)synergies)
between)
PRONAE)and)PAA
Mozambique
Diversifying)
diets:)other)4)
FA)were)
trained)on)
sustainable)
horticulture)
production
The)food)was)
distributed)to)
175)schools)in)
Tete,)which)
serve))74520)
students
8
Niger
There)is)an)identified)
potential)to)use)local)
food)purchases)for)
school)feeding,)but)also)
on)crisis)prevention)
and)management,)
through)national)
security)stocks)
The)3N)Initiative)is)
at)the)centre)of)
national)priorities,)
combining)action)to)
overcome)poverty)
and)food)insecurity
Farmer)
Adopting)
organizations)
sustainable)
established)
agronomic)
revolving)
practices:))
funds)to)
combining)species)
partially)pay)
of)legumes)and)
for)received) alternate gramineous)in)the)
inputs
same)plots
system
Training)of)trainers)
supported)regional)
officer)capacity)building)
and)dissemination)
potential)among)farmers
611 farmers
Over)50%)
women
FAO$+$National$research$
Intsitute$+$Local$
Agriculture$Office
millet)and)
beans)were)
purchased)by)
WFP
Monitoring)and) Malawi
evaluation)of)school)
feeding)programmes)
currently)in)place)
provide)the)elements)
for)an)expansion)of)
home)grown)school)
feeding
Good$results$of$field$
activities,$positive$
institutional$and$policy$
environment$and$the$
geographical$proximity$
between$schools$and$
farmers$associations$
contribute$to$that
Technical)
assessments)show)
the)potential)for)
the)expansion)of)
PAA)Africa)to)
other)regions
Thanks)to)an)
agreement)made)
locally,)farmers)had)
access)to)inputs,)
trainings)and)
productive)support
WFP)developed)
agreements)with)
two)district)
councils)for)
implementation)of)
HGSF)including)
disbursement)of)
funds.)
60 SCHOOLS
238MT)of) 11603 CHILDREN
Women’s)
organizations)
were)the)most)
successful)in)
complying)with)
amounts)
committed)in)
contracts
WFP)is)
leveraging)
procurement)
from)
smallholder)
farmers)at)
country)level
1248)
farmers
)A)scale[up)
of)local)food)
procurement)can)be)
benefited)by)continuous)
governmental)
ownership,)including)
through)budget)
allocation
Through)P4P,)
farmers’)
associations)
were)also)
supported)on)
organizational)
and)
commercializatio
n)skills
District)councils)
then)transferred)
the)resources)to)
the)schools,)which)
purchased)directly)
from)farmers
Malawi)produced)and)
supplied)the)most)
diversified)range)of)
crops)(maize,)beans,)
groundnuts,)sweet)
potatoes,)onions,)
tomatoes,)banana,)goat)
meat,)fish)and)milk)
10 SCHOOLS
10385
CHILDREN
FAO)also)
supported)the)
establishment)and)
management)of)
school)gardens)in)7)
of)the)schools
9
5
SUPPORT TO PRODUCTION:
STRENGTHENING SMALL SCALE FAMILY
FARMING
2014 is the Year of Agriculture and Food Security in
Africa and was declared the International Year of
Family Farming by the United Nations. The special
celebrations mark the 10th anniversary of the
Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development
Programme (CAADP) and place agriculture and food
security concerns high on the policy agendas. As a
call for action, the African Union’s 2014 Malabo
Declaration mobilized states, civil society and
development partners to reaffirm their commitments
with the CAADP process, through enhancing
investments in agriculture and ending hunger in the
continent by 2025. Within this context, small-scale
family farmer agriculture plays a critical role, and
stakeholders are requested to integrate measures for
increased agricultural productivity with social
protection initiatives focusing on vulnerable social
groups. In this regard, the Declaration recommended
encouraging and facilitating, among others,
increased consumption of locally produced food
items, including the promotion of innovative school
feeding programs that use food sourced from the
local farming community.
These recent efforts undertaken at the African
regional level are essential towards accelerating
agricultural transformation, while at the same time
underlining the importance of supporting small-scale
agriculture in the continent. A number of challenges
still lie ahead for small-scale family farmers on the
supply side, such as access to inputs, finance and
credit, storage capacity, access to technical
Capacity-building and the Freirean approach: a participatory model to train farmers in
Ethiopia
Through interaction, participatory training techniques and visual methods, FAO in Ethiopia trained 144 extension workers
and two cooperative managers to improve agronomic knowledge and skills, reduce post-harvest losses through improved
post-harvest management and improve extension services. After the training of trainers sessions (ToT), the extension workers
then organized farmer-level trainings in their home areas, facilitating women-headed households’ accessibility. The training
courses were supported with practical sessions, demonstrations, visual aids, and group discussions, following an inspiration
on Paulo Freire’s methodology for capacity-building. A total of 2,202 farmers out of which 1,775 men and 427 women
participated in the trainings. Besides taking part of these activities, participants are also able to provide their feedback on
the content, the relevance and the process of the trainings and to make recommendations for future activities. The adopted
Freirean approach on rural extension activities showed applicability in the Ethiopian multi ethnic rural context, the
development of tailored materials and methodologies showed their essentiality to achieve production improvements. For
PAA Africa’s second phase, it will be a priority to focus on participatory and horizontal capacity-building approaches, tailored
to each local context.
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
10
assistance and organizational capacity. They
undermine farmers’ capabilities to adequately and
efficiently participate in markets. Despite being
responsible for 80 per cent of the food supply in SubSaharan Africa, small farmers are amongst the most
vulnerable to food insecurity and to the inefficiencies
in local food systems and lack of inclusive market
access.
It is within this context that the PAA Africa
Programme has been working with small-scale family
farmers on sustainable agricultural support. Through
the technical leadership of FAO, it has been building
capacities on food production, harvest and postharvest techniques, helping farmers to be able to
produce in enough quantity and in good quality to
supply the demand generated by school feeding
programmes, while contributing to reduce food
losses and increase land productivity.
Increasing productivity and capacity building of
family farming
From 2012 to 2013, the field operations ensured
access to agricultural inputs and provision of trainings
to 5,516 small-scale family farmers across the five
countries, increasing productivity average rates in
114.5 per cent and ensuring guaranteed market
to an average of 37 per cent of the total food
produced by the supported farmers. Table 2
summarizes number of farmers and crop
production by country.
Table 2. PAA Africa supported farmers, crops' production and sales
Country
Project
Selected and
Location
supported crops
Number of
beneficiary
farmers
Average
Increases of
productivity
%
Total
Produced
MT
Commercialization
through PAA %
SNNP Regional
Ethiopia [1]
State (1 woreda:
Haricot red beans
2,160
50
590
47
1,248
na
na
na
Maize and Beans
497
43
262
23
Millet and Beans
611
90 - millet
250 - millet
77- beans
134 - beans
Rice
1,000
312.5
625
16
-
5,516
114.5
1,861
37
Boricha)
Southern Region
Malawi [2]
(2 districts:
Maize and
Phalombe and
Legumes
Mangochi)
Tete province (3
Mozambique
districts: Angonia,
[3]
Changara, Cabora
Bassa)
Maradi region (3
Niger
departments:
Dakoro, Guidan
Roumdji, Mayahi)
Senegal [4]
Kedougou region
TOTAL
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
62
11
Locally based partnerships with the decentralized
services of Ministries of Agriculture in Ethiopia,
Niger and Mozambique assured the provision of
agricultural inputs such as quality seeds and
fertilizers, while a collaboration with NGOs allowed
for distribution of inputs to farmers and support to
day-to-day field activities in Senegal and Malawi.
Access to the inputs was guaranteed through a set
of conditionalities adopted in each country.
Participation in trainings, adoption of improved
agricultural practices and the sale of part of the
production to PAA Africa were adopted in Senegal
and Mozambique; while in Niger a revolving funds
system was also adopted, using the partial payment
of the inputs by the farmers themselves. In Ethiopia,
a seed multiplication scheme guaranteed that
farmers returned to the Programme the same
amount of seeds they had received in the beginning
of the project. The returned second generation
seeds allowed the setup of a second cycle of seeds
distribution to target a greater number of farmers.
Furthermore, increasing farmers’ capabilities to
manage their productive activities is vital to improve
livelihoods and build communities’ resilience in the
medium and long terms. That is why the Programme
worked with various partners during phase I to
provide agricultural harvest and post-harvest
management trainings. The variety of learning
methods supported the adoption of good
agricultural practices capable of leveraging the
expected productivity, and facilitated the
dissemination of the acquired knowledge by farmerto-farmer exchanges.
Supporting diversified food production
Planning the agricultural production activities was a
complex process involving stakeholders from
agricultural and educational sectors. On one hand,
the Programme sought to strengthen the potential
of traditional crops, boost productivity, diversity and
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
stimulate the adoption of innovations by the small
farmers. On the other hand, it set as a goal to meet
the needs of diversified school meals in a given
area. By combining the factors influencing both axis,
production potential and consumers’ needs, the
Programme has been working with different crops in
each country, in different scales of production and
towards increasing agricultural diversification.
The pilot project in Malawi produced and supplied
the most diversified range of crops (maize, beans,
groundnuts, sweet potatoes, onions, tomatoes,
banana, goat meat, fish and milk) when compared
with the others countries.
In Ethiopia, the diversification of produced food
items was built on the traditional capacity to
cultivate cereals and legumes (fava beans, wheat
and maize), on the enhanced aggregation capacity
of cooperative unions supported by WFP’s Purchase
for Progress (P4P), and on the FAO expertise to
support the increase of productivity of traditional
crops . Senegal opted to work with rice given the
importance of the crop in the local eating habits
and agricultural practices, while Niger and
Mozambique have complemented the traditional
crops cultivation with the adoption of a more
sustainable agronomic practice, combining species
of legumes and gramineous in the same plots – in
Mozambique, beans and maize, and in Niger millet
and beans.
Complementary, FAO Malawi supported the
establishment of school gardens and pedagogic
methodologies to complement school meals. In
Mozambique, the project promoted the
construction of 91 clay silos (Gorongosa type) to
improve grains conservation at household and
communitarian level, with additional assistance to
farmers’ associations in the cultivation of diversified
horticultural crops.
12
6
LOCAL PROCUREMENT AND SUPPORT TO
SCHOOL FEEDING
The agricultural surplus generated by the small-scale
farmers was partially purchased complementing the
school meals of 128,456 children in 420 schools, with
the use of 1,025 tonnes of locally produced food.
The relevance of the lessons coming from the PAA
Africa approach is wide ranging. As part of the learning
produced by the 25 countries where WFP is
implementing Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF),
PAA can support discussions in diverse forums. It is
particularly in line with the efforts undertaken by the
African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD) for feeding African
schoolchildren with adequate nourishment through its
HGSF, placed in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture
Development Programme (CAADP).
School feeding programmes with local food purchases
from small-scale family farmers have multiple short and
longer-term benefits. They can be used as a tool to
promote local production and value chains and
enhance regular access to food of school attendants,
recover micronutrient status, and increase human
capital through improved school attendance,
enrolment, and learning ability.
Under PAA Africa Programme, WFP led the
procurement process for food distribution, and use of
local food items in school meals, along with related
capacity building for schools and farmers´
organizations. The Programme built on the WFP
technical and operational expertise with the Purchase
for Progress (P4P) initiative and with home grown
school feeding.
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
Buying food from family farmers’ organizations for
schools meals
To deliver the food to the schoolchildren in more than
400 targeted schools, the Programme used diverse
models of direct procurement from family farmers´
organizations. In Ethiopia, funds for food procurement
were channeled from WFP to the Government’s
Regional Office of Education to directly purchase food
from a Cooperative Union supported by P4P and
deliver to targeted schools. Table 3 details food
procurement and distribution through PAA Africa.
In Malawi, WFP developed field level agreements with
District Councils, which then transferred the funds to
the schools that were directly responsible for signing
contracts to procure the food from farmers´
associations, with P4P support. In Mozambique, WFP
signed direct contracts with farmers’ associations that
were members of a P4P supported second level
association, with the aim to test a decentralized
procurement model. In Niger and Senegal, countries
where WFP’s P4P is not piloted, WFP also purchased
the food directly and locally for school feeding
programmes through signed contracts with the
farmers’ unions for supplying food through PAA. These
PAA Africa purchase contracts were established with
diverse types and levels of family farmers’
organizations as food suppliers.
Quality control of the purchased food was made
through WFP smallholder friendly procurement
procedures and through contractual specifications with
partners and technical support. The type of food items
13
purchased through PAA Africa varied among the
countries, according to locally produced and consumed
food habits and to their use in school meals. In Niger,
Senegal, and Mozambique locally adapted menus
included one or two food items procured through PAA
Africa, among cereals and pulses. In Ethiopia, the food
basket was diversified with maize, wheat, red haricot
beans, and fava beans. And in Malawi, in the context of
a much-decentralized model in which schools purchase
food directly, a considerable range of products was
included among cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables and
animal products.
Providing additional support to local food
procurement for schools
In order to guarantee school capacity to store, prepare
and serve the locally procured food, the development
of school infrastructure was also supported through
the Programme. In Malawi, WFP ensured the
construction of kitchens, storerooms and feeding
shelters, helping to improve the quality of the school
meals, by providing space for hygienic preparation,
storage and distribution. Furthermore, the Programme
facilitated the capacity building of school staff, such as
for stock management, procurement and financial
management.
The Programme also invested in the capacity building
of farmers’ organizations on organizational and
commercialization skills. WFP and local partners carried
out trainings related to management, accounting,
financial management, marketing, stock and
warehouse management, and WFP procurement
procedures. WFP also provided equipment, such as
canvas covers, scales and polypropylene bags.
Table 3. PAA Africa food procurement and distribution
Country
Purchased
Purchased
Products
Quantity
Selling entities
Buying
Number of
Number of
entities
Schools
pupils
7
8,949
Schools
10
10,385
WFP
175
74,520
Maize, haricot
bean blend, red
Ethiopia
haricot bean, fava
311 MT
1 Farmers´ union
beans, wheat,
Bureau of
Education
vegetable oil, salt.
Maize, beans,
groundnuts, sweet
Malawi
potatoes, onions,
tomatoes, banana,
Individual
106 MT
goat meat, fish,
farmers and 4
farmers’
associations
milk
20 First level
Mozambique
Maize
270 MT
farmers’
associations
Niger
Millet, beans
238 MT
24 farmers’ unions
WFP
60
11,603
Senegal
Rice
100 MT
5 farmers’ unions
WFP
168
22,999
TOTAL
-
1,025 MT
-
420
128,456
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
54 selling
organizations
14
7
NATIONALLY OWNED LOCAL FOOD PURCHASE
PROGRAMMES FROM SMALL-SCALE FAMILY FARMERS:
KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AND STRATEGIC
PARTNERSHIPS FOR ACTION
Learning and knowledge exchange are key factors to
each PAA Africa country. Drawing from those
ensure that local food procurement initiatives are
assessments, the Programme has delivered strategy
sustainable and contribute to long-term food and
documents (Senegal), case studies (Malawi) and
nutrition security. While many developing countries still
contributions to national strategies (Ethiopia and
rely on external development partners for funding and
Niger), providing recommendations to national
support to implement school feeding initiatives, the
partners on potential areas for investments and
simultaneous development of policy frameworks, with
capacity development, seeking to support solutions to
national programming and implementation capacity are
some of the countries’ challenges. These papers
paramount. Hence, a thorough knowledge building
indicate the potential for PAA Africa scale up in
process requires dialogue at different levels,
alignment with national priorities.
encompassing operational, programme and policy
lessons.
International seminars and workshops were held in
Brasilia (2012), Dakar (2013) and Addis Ababa (2014),
Knowledge sharing activities have been central to the
gathering participants from partner and invited
advancement of PAA Africa. Communication tools for
countries, engaging governments, civil society and UN
information sharing and advocacy at international level
agencies in an experience-sharing environment. These
facilitated interaction among Programme stakeholders.
three meetings showed important progress in terms of
This process set the ground for the launch of activities
participation, content and methodology.
in the field, for their implementation, for providing the
elements for the elaboration of PAA Africa’s second
This shift increasingly focused on varied country
phase, and for promoting the renewal of stakeholders’
experiences with local food procurement and on how
political commitment towards local food procurement.
PAA Africa’s implementation responds to the needs of
building adapted models. These activities helped to
In this context, the South-South exchanges related to
reveal the diverse possibilities within the African
the work of the international experts knowledgeable of
context, facilitating qualified exchanges and
the Brazilian case were an essential element of PAA
identification of country specific practices.
Africa. Experts in local food purchases were deployed
to the five countries to provide technical assistance,
The government representatives who participated in
while allowing local stakeholders to benefit from the
these seminars and workshops were primarily the PAA
Brazilian learning context. Through profiling the
country partners at political and technical level, who
countries’ institutional, technical and productive
also followed the programmatic activities and field
capacities to carry out food procurement, the experts
operations. They were in majority from Ministries of
produced assessment of local food procurement for
Education and Agriculture (and the Initiative 3N –
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
15
Nigeriens feeding the Nigeriens - in Niger). This
Ministers has made the decision to create a quota of
encouraged and reinforced the continuous capacity
10 per cent for local procurement from farmers’
building and knowledge sharing of the government
organizations for the national food reserve. In Senegal,
partners at implementation, programme, and policy
the pilot project raised the importance of local food
levels.
purchases at the level of the prime minister and
presidential offices. In Mozambique, the PAA Africa
Overall, PAA Africa is contributing to the handover
approach is been considered a good opportunity to
efforts of home-grown school feeding programmes to
pilot different procurement modalities in order to
governments, by facilitating government’s
inform improvements on the procurement regulation
engagement and ownership of local purchase
of the National School Feeding Programme (PRONAE)
initiatives. In Ethiopia, the PAA pilot played a key role
and in Malawi it’s part of the national strategy to
in paving the way for the establishment of home-
strengthen school feeding coverage.
grown school feeding. Leveraged by partners, it
inspired the Regional Office of Education to include a
In terms of broader partnerships, PAA Africa
budgetary line in the government budget for the
consultative groups were also supported, contributing
school feeding programme. In Niger, the Council of
to strengthen the local stakeholders’ understanding of
Table 4. Highlights from PAA Africa Countries’ technical assessments
The results of the PAA Africa pilot in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples region indicate a potential
for a scale up of HGSF initiatives. In the short-term, preference could be given to centralized regional modalities
Ethiopia
of procurement of cereals, especially building on lessons learned from P4P. In a longer-term perspective, a mixed
model of centralized and decentralized procurement procedures involving the regional and district levels can
also facilitate the use of a more diversified basket of products, thus benefiting a wider group of the population.
A comparative case study about different pilots on school feeding and local food purchases shows the potential
Malawi
for the expansion of PAA Africa to other regions, based on the good results of field activities, the current
positive institutional and policy environment in country and the geographical proximity between schools and
farmers’ associations.
There is an identified potential to build synergies between PAA Africa and the recently launched Government
owned School Feeding Programme (PRONAE), for instance engaging the same geographical regions and have
Mozambique
common targeted schools. Furthermore, the report provides some recommendations for building a more
detailed strategy for institutional procurement schemes in the country by focusing on intensive support to food
production, study of the role of intermediaries in the value chain, adequate procurement legislation to favour
small-scale farmers and attention to a safe system of price definition.
There is an identified potential to utilize local food purchases within the context of school feeding, but also on
crisis prevention and management, through national security stocks being managed by the Government. In the
Niger
Nigerien context, moreover, a scale-up of PAA Africa operations in the country can also be partly benefited by
Governmental budget allocation, as long as procurement procedures are reviewed to benefit small-scale
farmers.
Strategic plan to scale up the Programme places a strong focus on government’s participation and management.
Senegal
Building upon a common interest in fostering school feeding, the strengthening of logistics and budget
allocation for local food purchases set the tone for an expansion phase.
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
16
Table 5. International Workshops and Seminar – estimated number of participants.
Government
FAO/WFP
Representatives
Professionals
Brazil
9
Ethiopia
Country
Civil Society Representatives
Others
Total
11
7
5
32
11
17
2
-
30
Malawi
6
4
2
-
12
Mozambique
8
7
2
-
17
Niger
10
9
2
-
21
Senegal
13
13
5
-
31
Others
3
25
1
2
31
Total
60
86
21
7
174
the project approach and facilitate their active
Finally, in a more limited scope, partnerships were
engagement in the implementation and planning of
established with civil society organizations (CSOs),
activities. In Mozambique, the PAA consultative group
mainly for services provision. In the case of
was established in 2012, gathering the main project
Mozambique and Brazil, partnership with civil society
partners and contributing to identify synergies
was also established for participation in the PAA
between PAA Africa and the recently launched
consultative groups, featuring the National Union of
National School Feeding Programme (PRONAE).
Peasants (UNAC) in the first case and the National
Likewise, the PAA Africa consultative group created in
Council for Food and Nutrition Security (CONSEA) in
Brazil for supporting the Programme implementation
the second.
and follow up have been evaluated as positively
increasing awareness by Brazilian stakeholders.
Dialogue and partners’ ownership: PAA’s technical group in Mozambique
The PAA Africa’s country coordination arrangements in Mozambique involved the set up of a consultative group
encompassed by Government institutions (Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Industry
and Commerce), civil society (represented by the National Smallholder Farmers Union, UNAC) as well as FAO
and WFP. The group worked as a viable forum to foster synergies among all actors, therefore ensuring the
effective and efficient Programme implementation. The group held ad hoc meetings in all important occasions
which required transparency and reliable decisions such as the selection of districts to conduct activities, the
development of the local procurement strategy, the participation in the international/regional workshops,
among others. It was also an important space where the proposal for the PAA second phase was discussed.
Field visits were also jointly conducted with Government focal points and other participants of the consultative
group. For the upcoming phase, PAA expects to enlarge the representation of the group and the establishment
of a local consultative group in the project implementation area (Tete region) is also being discussed.
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
17
8
CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED
PAA Africa phase I was a pilot period and
revealed challenges faced by each partner
during its implementation. Stated below, these
should be carefully taken into consideration and
addressed during the Programme second
phase.
As far as government involvement in PAA
Africa is concerned, dialogue at South-South
and in-country levels continues to be necessary.
As shown in the country assessments, homegrown school feeding and support to smallscale family farmers’ are aligned with
government strategies and priorities.
Nevertheless, specific national policy,
programming and implementation tools are not
always in place. Tailored technical and strategic
support regarding specific policy, institutional,
operational and legal instruments related to
local food procurement, rural extension and
home-grown school feeding shall be continued.
The involvement of civil society in PAA Africa
occurred mainly through in-country
arrangements, with limited participation in some
countries, revealing that a more structured and
institutionalized approach at local, national and
international levels should be sought, with
tailored approaches to gender and youth
engagement and capacity building.
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
In a broader perspective, benefits were also
identified regarding inter-agency collaboration.
The application of joint knowledge sharing and
operational activities, such as field visits, flexible
staff movement and organization of trainings
proved to be successful resources to promote
cooperation among implementing partners and
resulted in satisfactory levels of interaction
between project teams alongside the
implementation of phase I.
On the technical side, local availability of and
access to agricultural inputs (seeds and
fertilizers), along with limited presence of input
traders, were important challenges faced by
some country projects. Likewise, the adoption
of innovations to promote sustainable
agricultural systems and increase productivity
as a whole faced challenges due to: short
project timeline and funds, capacity constraints
of decentralized rural extension services
(government or civil society), farmers’ limited
capacities to adopt improved practices for
agricultural production, harvest, post-harvest,
and processing systems. Responding to these
challenges implies further efforts to promote
adapted models of extension services, in
dialogue with governments and civil society.
18
Differences between farmers’ organizations’
capabilities to meet schools food requirements
were observed. Limitations included logistic
capacity, particularly for storage, processing and
transport, which contributes to challenges on
maintaining product quality. Managerial
constraints, related to finances, business
planning, and others, were also faced. All of
these factors affect the capacity of farmers’
organizations to aggregate, process and
commercialize their production.
The Programme experience dealt with
procurement from different levels of
associations, from unions to single cooperatives.
Purchases from most aggregated levels are
more suitable to ensure contracted quality and
quantity standards. However, traceability and
communication flows regarding prices, costs
and general information throughout farmers’
associations’ levels and members can be a
limitation, influencing the final aggregation
capacity of those organizations.
The lack of clear information regarding the
Programme rules and possible advantages as
opposed to usual marketing relations with local
buyers (which include direct price bargains,
immediate payment and often financial
services), can increase side selling and hamper
membership capacity. On the other hand,
procurement from primary level farmers’
organizations can be more appropriate in
decentralized models. It can facilitate direct
delivery to schools and allow for the inclusion of
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
fresh products. Generally, however, this level of
organization faces even greater logistics and
managerial constraints.
Local institutional food procurement also
entailed adaptations in the purchase tools in
order to target small-scale farmers’
organizations and their diversity. In this context,
contracting and payment mechanisms that
respond to farmers’ expectations and
organizations’ needs must be continuously
adapted. It is important to strengthen mutual
agreements on market prices to be paid, along
with other contract specifications such as
transportation and delivery mechanisms that are
suitable for farmers’ to be able to fully respond
to supply requirements in terms of quantity,
quality and regularity. Payment mechanisms and
timing needed to be continuously adapted, with
the strengthening of funding flows.
Finally, the use of locally procured food in
school meals also entails the development of
adapted menus and of school capacities to
handle this food. Adapting menus is a process
that demands knowledge of locally used
products and recipes, respect to nutritional
requirements, development of quality control
standards for new products, acceptance and
appreciation by pupils, among others. At the
same time, capacity at school level to store,
prepare and serve the food, in terms of both
infra-structure and trained personnel, needs to
be reinforced.
19
9
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PHASE II
Overall, PAA Africa is providing important
contributions for the implementation, programming
and policy aspects of local institutional
procurement from small-scale family farmers for
food assistance. Through the combination of
operations and knowledge sharing, the Programme
is actively supporting country tailored models.
The further development and sustainability of these
models require continuous work at short, medium
and long-term, allowing to the PAA Africa
programme to provide evidence based knowledge
and guidelines for the Home-Grown School
Feeding (HGSF) scaling up. The programme can
also provide knowledge useful in the context of the
Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development
Programme (CAADP), contributing to build
adapted models to respond to the need of feeding
50 million African schoolchildren with adequate
nourishment .
In this context, recommendations to PAA Africa’s
second phase relate to:
Programme management and knowledge
sharing
✓ Strengthening coordination at programme and
country levels, continuously articulating different
stakeholders.
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
✓ Structuring gender and youth-related
approaches. Efforts should encompass the
development of systematic approaches.
✓ Reinforcing the learning and sharing of activities.
International training and consultancies that
respond to specific technical gaps, national and
international meetings, technical and political
missions, among others, should continue to provide
important tools for joining efforts for the
development and sustainability of the Programme.
✓ Developing a monitoring and evaluation
component. An M&E system tailored to the
programme needs shall be developed.
Country operations
✓ Scaling-up country operations. The learning from
the pilot activities and the knowledge documents
produced indicate an important potential for PAA
Africa scaling up in the five countries.
✓ Improving the adoption of practices and
methodologies in support to small-scale family
farmers and their organizations. It is necessary to
strengthen sustainable and adapted agricultural
support to increase productivity and diversity of
food production; innovations on sustainable
agriculture and tailored support to different profiles
of farmers; support for improving post-harvest,
20
quality and safety as well as management skills; and
farmers’ sustainable access to credit.
✓ Strengthening support to tailored local
institutional procurement arrangements.
Contracting and payment modalities need constant
improvement, including through training and
learning, in order to respond to diverse farmers´
organizations capacities and procurement
requirements.
✓ Strengthening support to the use of local
diversified products in school feeding, through the
development of adapted menus and school
capacities to handle local products.
Partnerships and collaboration
✓ Prioritizing progressive government involvement,
guaranteeing the long-term sustainability through
progressive government engagement at
operational, programming and policy levels.
✓ Reinforcing partnership with the Rome-Based
Agencies (RBA) of the UN. This collaboration will
ensure PAA Africa’s continuous operational results,
as the innovations being developed depend on
coordinated support in the areas of food
production, procurement, and school meals.
✓ Strengthening dialogue with civil society. A
structured plan to reinforce participation at local,
national and regional levels should be
implemented.
✓ Exploring potential collaboration with
development partners. Broad and regular spaces of
dialogue with Brazilian, African and other
development stakeholders should be expanded, in
order to ensure broader political, financial and
technical support to the Programme. Furthermore,
the Programme sustainability depends also on
increasing commitment of the international
community to support the countries’ ownership
process in building and/or strengthening their local
food procurement schemes. It is recommended the
development of a fund-raising plan encompassing
international aid agencies, private sector and other
relevant actors.
PAA Africa phase II
PAA Africa began its second phase in 2014, with continuous focus on the five
partner countries. Phase II is organized in two sub-phases: a) 18 months of
improved pilot projects and increased political dialogue (until June 2015); b ) 42
months of expansion and consolidation of local food purchase in national
contexts (July 2015 to December 2018). The current pilot improvements are
based on the recommendations shared in this report.
PAA Africa Phase I Learning and Results Report
21
Notes
[1] Data refers to two agricultural cycles.
[2] Data related to production and effects of PAA Africa activities was not collected or isolated.
[3] Data refers only to maize.
[4] Paddy rice for the first campaign (rainy season 2012/2013).
[5] Purchase for Progress (P4P): http://www.wfp.org/purchase-progress.
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
3N Initiative Nigeriens feeding Nigeriens (Les Nigériens nourissent les Nigériens)
CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme
CSO Civil Society Organization
DFID United Kingdom's Department for International Development
FA Farmers’ Association
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
HGSF Home-Grown School Feeding
MT Metric Tons
NEPAD New Partnership for Africa's Development
P4P Purchase for Progress Programme
PAA Food Purchase Programme (Brazil - Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos)
PRONAE Mozambique's National School Feeding Programme
SNNPR Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region (Ethiopia)
UNAC National Union of Peasants (Mozambique)
WFP United Nations World Food Programme
22
DECEMBER 2014
Purchase from Africans for Africa
FAO: [email protected]
WFP: [email protected]
Cover Photo: Children in Hanja Chefa
Primary School, Boricha district, Ethiopia.
WFP/Silvanus Okumu
Photos: WFP/Silvanus Okumu
FAO/Israel Klug
Instituto Lula/Helena Tavares
All icons used for graphic purposes are
attributed under Creative Commons
licenses.
Ethiopia: [email protected]
[email protected]
Malawi: [email protected]
[email protected]
Mozambique: [email protected]
[email protected]
Niger: [email protected]
[email protected]
Senegal: [email protected]
[email protected]
23