Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09UNROME87
2009-12-24 12:22:00
UNCLASSIFIED
UN Rome
Cable title:
WORLD FOOD PROGRAM'S PURCHASE FOR PROGRESS (P4P) ANNUAL
how-toVZCZCXRO5133 PP RUEHIK DE RUEHRN #0087/01 3581222 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 241222Z DEC 09 FM USMISSION UN ROME TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1239 INFO RUEHC/USAID WASHDC RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM PRIORITY 0019 RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 0079 RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0136 RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE USD FAS WASHINGTON DC RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY 0282 RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0339 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0440 RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 1316
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 UN ROME 000087
SIPDIS
USAID FOR DCHA, OFDA, FFP, EGAT AND AFRICA BUREAU
USDA FAS FOR PHILBROOK AND SHEIKH
TREASURY FOR MORRIS AND GANDHI
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: WFP AORC EAID EAGR
SUBJECT: WORLD FOOD PROGRAM'S PURCHASE FOR PROGRESS (P4P) ANNUAL
REVIEW
UN ROME 00000087 001.3 OF 002
-----------------------------
Summary
-----------------------------
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 UN ROME 000087
SIPDIS
USAID FOR DCHA, OFDA, FFP, EGAT AND AFRICA BUREAU
USDA FAS FOR PHILBROOK AND SHEIKH
TREASURY FOR MORRIS AND GANDHI
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: WFP AORC EAID EAGR
SUBJECT: WORLD FOOD PROGRAM'S PURCHASE FOR PROGRESS (P4P) ANNUAL
REVIEW
UN ROME 00000087 001.3 OF 002
--------------
Summary
--------------
1. From December 9-10, USG representatives from USAID, USDA and
MCC attended the first Annual Review of the UN World Food
Program (WFP) Purchase for Progress (P4P) program, an initiative
to promote the development of agricultural markets capitalizing
on WFP's purchasing power. Over 150 participants gathered in
Rome to exchange experiences, challenge assumptions, set
priorities and make improvements for moving P4P forward, which
has generated great interest and support among stakeholders.
Participants agreed that there is a need to: broaden and deepen
partnerships in particular with the private sector; strengthen
national and regional market information systems to better
monitor the impact of P4P; make gender empowerment a specific
goal of programs; ensure programs are led, designed and
implemented at the country/community level. End summary.
--------------
Purchase for Progress (P4P)
--------------
2. Inspired by the potential of WFP's purchasing power -- 80
percent of WFP's $1.2 billion commodity budget is spent in the
developing world each year -- Purchase for Progress (P4P) began
in 2008with the aim of taking local procurement a step further.
The key objective is to help poor small-holder farmers organize
to meet WFP demand, thereby increasing the income of those in
need while at the same time developing lasting market
structures. The P4P vision is to promote the development of
agricultural markets in such a way that by 2013 at least 500,000
low-income smallholder farmers (mostly women) will produce food
surpluses and sell them at a fair price to increase their
incomes. Most importantly, P4P activities complement broader
national and regional economic development strategies, including
the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program
(CAADP).
3. P4P is a five-year, $115 million pilot program built on
three pillars: WFP's demand (in 2008, while assisting 103
million people, WFP bought $1.1 billion worth of food
commodities) , supply side partnerships (WFP links its demand
with the expertise, knowledge and resources of supply side
partners that support farmers to increase and improve quality of
their production) and learning and sharing (P4P gathers and
shares lessons about effective approaches to help smallholder
farmers benefit from the sale of their agriculture produce) .
Implementation is underway in 19 of 21 target countries, with
25,000 metric tons already contracted out of the expected total
of 40,000 metric tons by the end of CY 2009. Nearly 10,000
farmers and 58 warehouse operators have received training, and
about 50 supply side partners are working with farmer
organizations on P4P. A comprehensive monitoring and evaluation
system, including baselines, is being rolled out in the pilot
countries.
--------------
Annual Review Process
--------------
4. The 150 representatives in attendance included P4P
coordinators, key staff from WFP headquarters and the field,
partner organizations and other global stakeholders. The USG
was represented by USAID, USDA, and the MCC. Other donors such
as Canada and Belgium and the Gates and Buffet Foundations also
participated.
5. Working group sessions were held on the following topics:
competitive and non-competitive procurement, processing/food
safety and quality, partnership models, capacity building,
monitoring and evaluation and gender issues. Groups also met by
region, with one dedicated to conflict and post-conflict
countries. Recurring issues coming out of these sessions
included the importance of an enabling policy environment
(limited market interference by host government),farmer access
UN ROME 00000087 002.3 OF 002
to credit, providing support to small to medium-scale traders
and food processors, a need for more flexible procurement
modalities, promoting the expansion of warehouse receipts
systems and commodity exchanges, the critical issue of defining
commodity prices, monitoring and evaluation challenges, quality
standards, and the selection of adequate partners. In a session
highlighting donor perspectives, USAID presented an overview of
the USG Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative
(http://www.state.gov/s/globalfoodsecurity),and noted an
anticipated scale-up in funding for focus countries as an
opportunity for partnership, encouraging contact between local
WFP offices and U.S. Missions to identify shared objectives.
6. Observations/concerns: Several participants noted the
developmental nature of this program, expressing concern that
programming in this area (with gender issues as an example)
would be substandard due to it not being WFP's area of
expertise. The impact of P4P activities on local markets was
also raised: WFP's Director of Procurement recognized
difficulties in market results measurement due to P4P's
small-scale pilot status presently, and reiterated WFP's
committed attention to market sensitivities.
7. Comment: While it is still too early to gauge the full
impact of this program, it does appear to provide a platform to
test new procurement approaches and support those best suited to
help small holder farmers. Only time will tell if the program
can raise small subsistence farmers up to the level of
surplus-producing commercial farmers. Similarly, it is too
early to judge whether P4P will substantially and sustainably
raise levels of production in targeted areas or if it will save
money compared to other forms of procurement. End comment.
8. For further information on P4P, please contact Michelle Snow
(Snowms@state.gov) at USUN-Rome, or Rachel Grant
(ragrant@usaid.gov) in FFP/Washington. Additional information
may be found at: http://www.wfp.org/purchase-progress; as well
as at:
http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/publ ic/documents/n
ewsroom/wfp209354.pdf.
9. Minimize considered.
GLOVER
SIPDIS
USAID FOR DCHA, OFDA, FFP, EGAT AND AFRICA BUREAU
USDA FAS FOR PHILBROOK AND SHEIKH
TREASURY FOR MORRIS AND GANDHI
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: WFP AORC EAID EAGR
SUBJECT: WORLD FOOD PROGRAM'S PURCHASE FOR PROGRESS (P4P) ANNUAL
REVIEW
UN ROME 00000087 001.3 OF 002
--------------
Summary
--------------
1. From December 9-10, USG representatives from USAID, USDA and
MCC attended the first Annual Review of the UN World Food
Program (WFP) Purchase for Progress (P4P) program, an initiative
to promote the development of agricultural markets capitalizing
on WFP's purchasing power. Over 150 participants gathered in
Rome to exchange experiences, challenge assumptions, set
priorities and make improvements for moving P4P forward, which
has generated great interest and support among stakeholders.
Participants agreed that there is a need to: broaden and deepen
partnerships in particular with the private sector; strengthen
national and regional market information systems to better
monitor the impact of P4P; make gender empowerment a specific
goal of programs; ensure programs are led, designed and
implemented at the country/community level. End summary.
--------------
Purchase for Progress (P4P)
--------------
2. Inspired by the potential of WFP's purchasing power -- 80
percent of WFP's $1.2 billion commodity budget is spent in the
developing world each year -- Purchase for Progress (P4P) began
in 2008with the aim of taking local procurement a step further.
The key objective is to help poor small-holder farmers organize
to meet WFP demand, thereby increasing the income of those in
need while at the same time developing lasting market
structures. The P4P vision is to promote the development of
agricultural markets in such a way that by 2013 at least 500,000
low-income smallholder farmers (mostly women) will produce food
surpluses and sell them at a fair price to increase their
incomes. Most importantly, P4P activities complement broader
national and regional economic development strategies, including
the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program
(CAADP).
3. P4P is a five-year, $115 million pilot program built on
three pillars: WFP's demand (in 2008, while assisting 103
million people, WFP bought $1.1 billion worth of food
commodities) , supply side partnerships (WFP links its demand
with the expertise, knowledge and resources of supply side
partners that support farmers to increase and improve quality of
their production) and learning and sharing (P4P gathers and
shares lessons about effective approaches to help smallholder
farmers benefit from the sale of their agriculture produce) .
Implementation is underway in 19 of 21 target countries, with
25,000 metric tons already contracted out of the expected total
of 40,000 metric tons by the end of CY 2009. Nearly 10,000
farmers and 58 warehouse operators have received training, and
about 50 supply side partners are working with farmer
organizations on P4P. A comprehensive monitoring and evaluation
system, including baselines, is being rolled out in the pilot
countries.
--------------
Annual Review Process
--------------
4. The 150 representatives in attendance included P4P
coordinators, key staff from WFP headquarters and the field,
partner organizations and other global stakeholders. The USG
was represented by USAID, USDA, and the MCC. Other donors such
as Canada and Belgium and the Gates and Buffet Foundations also
participated.
5. Working group sessions were held on the following topics:
competitive and non-competitive procurement, processing/food
safety and quality, partnership models, capacity building,
monitoring and evaluation and gender issues. Groups also met by
region, with one dedicated to conflict and post-conflict
countries. Recurring issues coming out of these sessions
included the importance of an enabling policy environment
(limited market interference by host government),farmer access
UN ROME 00000087 002.3 OF 002
to credit, providing support to small to medium-scale traders
and food processors, a need for more flexible procurement
modalities, promoting the expansion of warehouse receipts
systems and commodity exchanges, the critical issue of defining
commodity prices, monitoring and evaluation challenges, quality
standards, and the selection of adequate partners. In a session
highlighting donor perspectives, USAID presented an overview of
the USG Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative
(http://www.state.gov/s/globalfoodsecurity),and noted an
anticipated scale-up in funding for focus countries as an
opportunity for partnership, encouraging contact between local
WFP offices and U.S. Missions to identify shared objectives.
6. Observations/concerns: Several participants noted the
developmental nature of this program, expressing concern that
programming in this area (with gender issues as an example)
would be substandard due to it not being WFP's area of
expertise. The impact of P4P activities on local markets was
also raised: WFP's Director of Procurement recognized
difficulties in market results measurement due to P4P's
small-scale pilot status presently, and reiterated WFP's
committed attention to market sensitivities.
7. Comment: While it is still too early to gauge the full
impact of this program, it does appear to provide a platform to
test new procurement approaches and support those best suited to
help small holder farmers. Only time will tell if the program
can raise small subsistence farmers up to the level of
surplus-producing commercial farmers. Similarly, it is too
early to judge whether P4P will substantially and sustainably
raise levels of production in targeted areas or if it will save
money compared to other forms of procurement. End comment.
8. For further information on P4P, please contact Michelle Snow
(Snowms@state.gov) at USUN-Rome, or Rachel Grant
(ragrant@usaid.gov) in FFP/Washington. Additional information
may be found at: http://www.wfp.org/purchase-progress; as well
as at:
http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/publ ic/documents/n
ewsroom/wfp209354.pdf.
9. Minimize considered.
GLOVER