Purchase for Progress
- 300,000
- women participate in P4P, three times as many as in 2008
- 1 million
- farmers changed the way they engage with markets thanks to P4P
- 600,000
- metric tons of food were purchased directly from smallholder farmers through P4P
Across the world, smallholder farmers produce much of the food that lands on people’s plates – feeding up to 80 percent of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Yet for most, going beyond mere subsistence is an uphill struggle. Exposed to extreme weather phenomena brought on by climate change and to progressive land degradation, they lack the means to invest in productive, sustainable farming methods.
The use of traditional, often rudimentary, storage leaves crops at the mercy of pests, and vulnerable to heat and humidity. The loss of harvested crops – which can reach 30 percent in sub-Saharan Africa – means a loss of income. It also means wasting all the valuable resources – land, water, labour– invested in their production.
Crucially, access to formal markets – which could be an incentive for smallholder farmers to invest in their business – remains elusive for reasons that include low production and productivity, as well as structural deficiencies such as lack of transport and infrastructure.
Related topics
In focus
Beyond the Annual Performance 2019 series
The P4P story: connecting farmers to markets
Publication | 19 February 2015
P4P: reflections on the pilot
Publication | 12 February 2015
P4P: Growing Sustainable Food Systems
Publication | 26 April 2016
Smallholder Farmers' Marketing Choices
Publication | 18 November 2015
Supporting Public Procurement from Smallholder Farmers
Publication | 27 August 2015
Systemic change fact sheets
Publication | 24 November 2016