Brazil provides $2.3m to fund food purchasing in five African countries

The Government of Brazil is providing an amount of $2,375,000 for a new local food purchase programme to be set up by two UN agencies to benefit farmers and vulnerable populations in five African countries namely Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger and Senegal.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are the two agencies mandated to set up the programme.

Under an agreement signed by all parties, Brazil will fund the project, as well as share expertise drawn from its own national Food Purchase Programme (PAA), the FAO said in a statement February 21, 2012.

The statement indicated that the FAO, which is to receive $1.55 million, will look after the production side of the new project, providing seeds and fertilizer and boosting the capacity of small-scale farmers and farmers’ associations to grow, process and sell their produce.

The FAO says it will also mobilize Brazilian expertise in support of local purchase initiatives.

The WFP, which is receiving $800 000, on the other hand, will be responsible for organizing the purchase and delivery of the food to schools and vulnerable groups.

By Ekow Quandzie