ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

¡°When I get a contract from WFP, I provide smallholder farmers with the seeds on credit,¡± says Ederbry Mweendo. ¡°After they harvest, they pay me back for the seeds and sell me their surplus crops¡±. 

Mweendo heads Cassia Agro, one of the 13 aggregators and farmer cooperatives the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ works with in Zambia to procure cowpeas and beans for its programmes in the southern Africa region. 

Last year, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳committed to procure 1,151 metric tons of commodities through aggregators and farmer cooperatives, valued at almost US$1 million. 

Based in Monze district, Mweendo works with ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳to procure pulses from smallholder farmers and to supply airtight hermetic bags ¨C a low-cost,?post-harvest tech that reduces food losses of up to 40 percent in the country. 

¡°It gives me peace and comfort to know that the food we are providing to ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳is supporting vulnerable people. It¡¯s a privilege to support their programmes,¡± says Mweendo. 

Food is procured from Mweendo under WFP¡¯s global commodity management platform, which allows food to be purchased in advance of project requests. This reduces delivery lead times and helps aggregators and farmers to better plan their production. 

¡°The airtight bags help smallholder farmers to store the crops perfectly until they sell their crops. They keep crops perfect even after years of storage,¡± says Mweendo.

Twaanabo Mwanza is one of the 2,700 smallholder farmers Mweendo buys from to sell to WFP. The 30-year-old grows orange maize, groundnuts, soybeans and cowpeas. 

¡°Before I was introduced to Ederbry [Mweendo], I only used to grow a small amount of pulses. But she taught us about their benefits ¨C they are nutritious, drought-resistant, cheaper to grow than maize, and sell for more,¡± says Twanabo. 

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¡°We smallholder farmers work hand-in-hand with Ederby. She provides us with seeds, airtight hermetic bags and a ready market. Usually, we would guess what to grow and search for markets. But now we are given seeds and sell our harvest back to her,¡± he says. 

This year, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳procured pulses from aggregators in Zambia to support operations in Angola and Eswatini.  

In Eswatini, the beans were provided as part of WFP¡¯s emergency response in the Lubombo region, providing monthly food distributions to nearly 35,000 people who are struggling to put food on the table due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, limited job opportunities and high food prices. 

Lungelo is one of the people that received 5kg of beans from Zambia, as well as 10 kg of rice and half a litre of cooking oil.  

At the age of 15, he became the head of his household when his mother left their family in pursuit of a job. He had to drop out of school to care for his 78-year-old grandmother living with tuberculosis and and his 13-year-old sister.  

¡°There were days we would go to bed on empty stomachs to avoid asking for food from our neighbours,¡± he says.  

Lungelo found a seasonal job at a local sugar factory, but this didn¡¯t cover all his family¡¯s needs. Now, the food he receives from ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳is helping him to support his family. 

¡°With my seasonal job and the food from WFP, we can lead better, decent lives.... we received the beans just as we needed them,¡± he says. ¡°Now, I don¡¯t have to worry about my family going to bed hungry.¡±

His sister, Tengetile, is a big fan of the beans. 

¡°I can¡¯t believe these beans come all the way from Zambia, it¡¯s so far. I will carry five beans to school to show my friends and maybe we can plant them during our science project on germination,¡± she says. 

¡°Our teacher told us that beans are body building food. I can get the same nutrients that can be found in meat. So even if I don¡¯t get to eat meat all the time, I will still be healthy,¡± she adds.  

Learn more about WFP's work in Nutrition