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WFP buys first consignment of locally produced rice in Sierra Leone
The World Food Programme has received the first consignment of rice ever purchased in Sierra Leone.
The Koinadugu Women's Vegetable Farmers' Cooperative on Monday delivered the consignment of five metric tons of locally produced rice bought through the Purchase for Progress (P4P) project.
WFP says the rice, to be distributed through the school meals programme is enough to feed 3,800 primary school children for 3 months.
Purchase for Progress (P4P) project
It is the first batch of a total of 500 metric tons of food that the United Nations food agency plans to buy this year from 10 different organizations in Sierra Leone.
For the Koinadugu Cooperative, which represents 750 women, the contract to supply rice to WFP at a cost of US$560 per metric ton is a major breakthrough.
It has given them an income to expand their production, educate their children and take care of the needs of their families, said one of the cooperative's members.
With P4P WFP is not only buying locally produced rice, it is also working with the Government and supply-side partners to improve smallholders' capacity to deliver high standard milled rice.
Jocelyne Sambira for UN Radio
Duration: 1'09"
