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Record purchase enabled UN to feed hungry, boost southern African economies

Record purchase enabled UN to feed hungry, boost southern African economies

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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it purchased a record amount of food in southern Africa in 2008, enabling the agency to feed millions across the vast continent while also supporting local farmers and economies.

WFP spent $190 million last year buying more than 550,000 metric tons of food, including cereals, pulses, vegetable oil, corn-soya blend, salt and sugar in seven countries across southern Africa, with the bulk of the purchases made in South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia.

“These record purchases played a huge part in ensuring that WFP was able to provide timely and sufficient food assistance to millions of hungry people across Africa,” said Mustapha Darboe, WFP Regional Director for Southern, Eastern and Central Africa.

Most of the food was distributed within southern Africa, but significant amounts were also used in emergencies elsewhere on the continent, including Somalia, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mr. Darboe noted that, at a time of high food prices, buying in southern Africa has still proven to be both cost efficient as well as extremely effective in supporting small farmers and traders and stimulating local agricultural economies. The agency hopes to buy even more food directly from small-scale farmers in the coming years.

The record purchases in southern Africa amounted to one-fifth of WFP's total food purchases in 2008. The previous record was set in 2005, when WFP bought just over 500,000 metric tons in southern Africa for $100 million.