January 2013
Local Purchases in the Ecuador-Colombia Border
WFP in Ecuador
Response to Government Priorities
Ecuadorian Constitution, art. 281 on food sovereignty: Strengthen producers’ organizations distribution promoting equality between urban and rural areas
Organic Code for Territorial Organization, Autonomy and Decentralization: Local authorities charged with increasing productivity and ensuring good nutrition
National Development Plan
• Food sovereignty• Food security• Safe, clean local production
Why Local Purchases?
Link small-scale farmer associations with safety nets, special focus on women
Improve:•Access to markets and
local seed varieties
•Agricultural practices
•Incomes and livelihoods
of small scale farmers
Promote:•Diversified diets •Refugee integration
Objectives
Similarities with P4P Strengthening Farmer Associations
* Improved access to markets through collective sales
Public markets:•Local government fairs•Complementing school meals•WFP food assistance to persons with disabilities etc.
Private markets:•Supermarkets with WFP’s voucher distribution•Local rice fortification - Sucumbíos joint initiative with Ministry of Agriculture, UNHCR and private rice millers
* Result: More sustainable incomes
.
Strengthening local governments to improve:
•Implementation capacity
•Quality control
Vegetable gardens for:
•Communities
•Schools
•Families caring for people with disabilities
.
Similarities with P4P
Supporting Women Farmers
•Target associations with women members of both nationalities
•Ensure more stable incomes for women farmers
•Promote women’s participation in sales, access to new technologies and seeds
Similarities with P4P
Increasing family knowledge on nutrition through trainings on food and nutrition security
Increasing skills of farmers in small-scale associations
Empowering women: 60 percent of purchases from women farmers
Developing commitment and capacities of local governments: cost sharing, technical assistance, quality control and follow-up
What Worked Well?
Nutritious menus adopted by schools, which improved the diet of 4,500 children in 2012
School committee and parents involved in reception of products and meal preparation
Purchase of fruits and vegetables (WFP funds) for on-time delivery to schools
Local government support – transport of products and quality control
What Worked Well?
Security: working in a conflict-affected areas: ensuring timely deliveries
Incorporate technology to track purchases, products delivered
Women empowered in associations to sell their products
Competitive prices for farmers associations
Sustainability and handover of activities
Challenges to Expanding Local Purchases
Adapting the school model – moving from deliveries to schools to service providers as part of the National School Meal Programme
Buying from fairs and local markets rather than from individual farmer associations to increase efficiency
Diversifying and expanding
production to meet demand
on a regular basis
Moving towards increased production of organic products
What Next?
Expand credit access with partners
Facilitate sales to supermarkets supporting WFP voucher initiatives
Involve universities to support innovative and sustainable farming techniques
Adoption of P4P successes
Thank You