The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday officially launched the Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative in Ethiopia.

Through the project financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, WFP plans to support almost 70,000 smallholder farmers by purchasing some 126,000 metric tons of food over the next five years.

P4P takes WFP local procurement a step further – it enables smallholder farmers to supply food to WFP operations and gives them the know-how and tools to become competitive players in the agricultural marketplace.

The project increases the farmers’ income, which encourages them to produce more.

“P4P benefits both Ethiopia’s small farmers and WFP,” said WFP Ethiopia Country Director Mohamed Diab in a WFP statement issued in Nairobi.

“The farmers have a secure market and income, encouraging them to grow more food, and WFP can buy food at competitive prices for people in need in Ethiopia,” added the statement.

David Tibo, a farmer from Jara Galalcha near Awassa sold 4.5 metric tons of maize through his cooperative union to WFP.

He said that his life had changed since taking part in the first P4P training at the end of 2009 as he learned about crop quality and diversification as well as market linkages.

“Now I receive a fair price and I am able to make some profit,” he said.

Tibo is one of more than 4,000 farmers who benefited from P4P during the initial stage of the project in Ethiopia.

Since February 2010, WFP has bought more than 5,500 metric tons of maize and beans from cooperative unions in Amhara, Oromya and SNNP regions.