Ethiopian farmers cooperatives are supplying maize to the United Nations World Food Program, according to the announcement made by the WFP. The amount to be supplied is enough to support more than a million people for a month.

World Food Program has concluded futures  contract with 16 farmers cooperative unions for the purchase of over 28,000 metric ton of maize the previous year. The first deliveries on those contracts began arriving at WFP warehouses last week. The maize supplied will be used for the World Food Program emergency relief operations.

The purchase of maize form local farmer cooperative unions is an arrangement under the WFP's Purchase for Progress initiative (P4P), which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented in cooperation with the government of Ethiopia through the Agricultural Transformation Agency.

In 2012, WFP has so far purchased a record 112,000 metric tons of food from  Ethiopian market, more than any other country in Africa.

Source: ENA