Among the best tools available to the US Government to provide urgently needed food assistance to respond to crisis is Local and Regional Procurement (LRP). The 2008 Farm Bill created an LRP Pilot Program and mandated assessments as to whether LRP … Read more
Local and Regional Procurement: A Case Study of Mercy Corps’ Programming in Haiti, Kyrgyzstan, and Niger
This paper discusses the findings from recent reviews of local and regional purchase (LRP) food aid projects implemented by Mercy Corps in five countries, with emphasis on time, cost and effectiveness. It then makes recommendations for funding and implementation of … Read more
Local Purchase and Smallholder Farmers: Revisiting the Logic Underpinning Common Assumptions
Recently, local purchases aiming to directly benefit smallholder farmers have gained significant support as a development tool. While a range of approaches exist, many of the commonly held assumptions that underpin the logic of smallholder-focused local purchases need to be … Read more