Connecting farmers to markets: The P4P story

Connecting farmers to markets: The P4P story. This short book provides an overview of the achievements made, challenges faced and lessons learned.

It highlights the experience of farmers, governments and other partners in the 20 pilot countries. Through their stories, this short book gives voice to many people directly involved in the P4P partnership.

A paper details the wide array of opportunities generated by the P4P approach, along with the correspondingly deep set of challenges addressed: Purchase for Progress: Reflections on the pilot,

The Purchase for Progress (P4P) pilot has allowed WFP to try out new ways of leveraging its purchasing power to support agricultural and market development in developing countries. Over the past five years, the pilot has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of farmers, especially women, in 20 developing countries, supporting them to grow more, sell more, and earn more and become more competitive players in their local markets.

P4P links WFP’s demand for staple food commodities (cereals, pulses and blended foods) with the technical expertise of a wide range of partners to support smallholder farmers boost their agricultural production and sell their surplus at a fair price. By providing a market to smallholder farmers and supporting them to improve crop quality and increase their sales to WFP as well as other buyers, the initiative has transformed WFP’s local procurement into a vital tool to address hunger.

Though the five-year P4P pilot period concluded in December 2013, efforts to support smallholders continue as WFP mainstreams key innovations and best practices.