This document outlines opportunities for linking public food procurement programs to sustainable agricultural production systems in sub-Saharan Africa. It discusses the potential for public demand to support smallholder farmers through predictable purchases. Case studies from Niger and Senegal show purchases from farmers organizations increased productivity and farmer incomes. However, scaling up poses challenges as enabling policies, services and regulations are also needed to operationalize procurement considering production objectives. While public demand may incentivize sustainable practices, other supports are likely required. The relative size of procurement compared to total supply is also important to consider impacts and tradeoffs between objectives of price and promotion of certain farming methods.

1. May 02, 2016
Linking public procurement andLinking public procurement and sustainable production systems:sustainable production systems:
opportunities and open questionsopportunities and open questions
Israel Klug - israel.klug@fao.org
Programme coordinator
Nutrition and Food Systems Division

2. Structure
Outline of the presentation
• Introducing the concept of a food public procurement programme with multiple
objectives;
• PAA Africa project scope and methodology;
• Some assumptions of inclusive food public procurement effects on farming
practices and farmers’ organizations;
• General profile of farmers and agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa;
• Potential public food demand and local food availability (Ethiopian case);
• Results of piloted experiences (Niger and Senegal);
• Scaling-up challenges;
• Opportunities, considerations and questions: linking public procurement and
sustainable production systems.

3. Food access for
vulnerable people:
e.g. focused on minimal
calories
and protein intakes (food aid)
Food system
regulation: prices,
strategic food reserves
Food access and promotion
of nutritious food habits:
e.g school feeding
Catering services
for public employees
Nutritional programmes
or interventions
Procurement criterias:
standard requirements
lower price
Food public procurement
objectives
Procurement
mechanisms
Other public
interests and related public or
private policies
Promote inclusivenes of
public purchases:
e.g. for smallholder farmers
and small and medium
enterprises / “market
creation”
Promote
sustainable
farming
systems
Promote
sustainable
farming systems
for a specific
group of
producers
Aditional criterias
and principles
Principles of legality,
impartiality, morality,
publicity and efficiency
Principles of
sustainability
Principles of
social justice,
food sovereignty
Principles of legality,
impartiality, morality,
publicity and
efficiency

4. Public food procurement from smallholder farmers -
a possible premise to promote market linkages:
PAA Africa phase II - scope and methodology
Partnerships with different levels of public administration FO and NGOs
Innovations and experimentation
Exploratory studies and analysis in support to policy dialogue or
planning and operational decisions
Exchanges of lessons learned and political dialogue

5. Public food procurement from smallholder farmers -
a possible premise to promote market linkages:
PAA Africa project scope
Farmers Cooperatives
Procurement
and logistic
Schools
Students
Food
Agricultural inputs
Trainings
Quality control
Processing
Trainings
Quality control
Purchases
Logistic
Basic
Infra-structure
Trainings
Farmers
Organizations
Quality control
Processing
Trainings

6. • Targeted, predictable and regular food public procurement is
adaptable to the small farmers´ needs and promotes
inclusiveness of public food procurement.
• Targeted purchases may positively interfere on non competitive markets and
on farmers’ revenues, promoting market inclusiveness for smallholder farmers;
• Predictability of prices and contracted quantities may reduce farmers’ risks of
engaging on food production and marketing, by providing information of future
variables and therefore supporting better planning;
• Regularity of contracted quantities may provide a learning curve opportunity to
farmers and farmers’ organizations, in order to progressively improve quantity
(productivity/aggregation) and quality of food produced in a timely manner;
• Diversified and/or context based procurement (traditional local products) may
be adapted to farmers' skills.
Public food procurement from smallholder farmers -
a possible premise to promote market linkages:
Public food procurement from smallholder farmers -
some assumptions on potentialities to promote
improvements on farming and farmers’ organizations :

7. Aggregated and general profile of agriculture in Sub-
Saharan Africa
>570 million farms in the world
>500 million of these are owned by families
>475 million farms are less than 2 hectares in size
>410 million farms are less than 1 hectare in size
Mostly rain fed agriculture
with lack of :
-Financial services
-Technical services
-Technologies
-Structured value chains
-Infra-structure
-Enabling regulatory
environment
Worldwide:
(FAO, ESA working paper 14-02)

8. How much responsive the small farming and farmers’
organizations would be to the scaling-up of local
governmental food purchases?
(FAO, PAA Africa, Flavio Freitas, 2012 )(FAO, PAA Africa, Flavio Freitas, 2012 )
Estimated Ethiopian HGSF annual demand (2012):
-561,581 tons of maize (62% of the maize supplied by national producers).
-160,816 tons of haricot beans (78% more than farmers’ supply).
* Estimates do not consider elasticities.

9. PAA Africa programme implemented in the region of
Kédougou – Senegal (2012-2013)
Farmers’ profile - Senegal Productive support provided by FAO
and MoA
- One or two hectares of rice, with
severe constraints related to their
access to productive assets;
- 55% of households do not
produce enough cereals for even
half of their annual needs;
- illiteracy is high among household
heads;
- Yearly incomes revolve around
USD400.
- Inputs subsidies – free distribution
of seeds and fertilizers;
- Peer-to-peer farming technical
assistance;
- Processing rice facilities and
packing;
- Transportation and packing services
(WFP).
Results:
-Purchase contracts signed with five unions of FO for the provision of 200 tons
of peeled rice for school meals (WFP);
-An increase in productivity from 800 kg/ha to 2.5t/ha in the 2012-2013
campaign, and to 3t/ha in the 2013-2014 campaign;
-Low compliance levels of procurement contracts (25% of what was agreed) in
the 2012 campaign, which improved in the following campaigns;
-An average increment of US$27 in each farmers’ revenues, which represents
around 7% of their declared income.
(FAO, Rosana Miranda Et al., 2016)

10. Up-scaled and inclusive public procurement of food relies on several
regulations of public procurement, agricultural commercialization and food
safety rules as well as on productive assets and services.
Public administrative procedures
Laws and regulations
Public policies
Food
Enabling environment for production and marketing
Programmes

11. Opportunities, considerations and open questions

In principle, public food procurement programmes may contribute to boost
initiatives of sustainable production or agroecology;

Predictable and guaranteed public demand is probably not enough to
sustain sustainable farming practices;

The relative size of the public food purchases is a key information for the
design, programing and scaling-up of such initiatives (e.g. potential organic
food demand / total organic food supply + elasticities);

Trade offs between procurement and production objectives (prices);

Agricultural policies and programmes, agricultural services and productive
assets, food safety regulations, legal frameworks and public services
(registry of farmer’s associations) are key for an up-scaled and operational
programme of food public purchases which includes multiple objectives (e.g.
targeting small scale family farmers, or agro-ecological products).

12. Thank you!
Questions and comments are
welcome!
Israel.klug@fao.org