MSU/FSG Study of the Impact of WFP Local and Regional Food Aid Procurement on Markets, Households, and Food Value Chains

This study examines the impact of the World Food Program’s (WFP) Local and Regional Procurement of food aid (LRP) on households and markets. It focuses on four countries and commodities where WFP LRP has had a meaningful share of the market: maize in Uganda and Mozambique, beans in Ethiopia, and High Energy Protein Supplements (HEPS) in Ethiopia and Malawi. The study investigates three specific impacts of LRP: (1) its effect on the level and variability of local market prices, (2) the impacts of resulting price and production changes on the economic welfare of local rural and urban households, and (3) the effect of LRP purchases and related training and inspection activities on the investment decisions and trading practices of traders and processors in the food system, and hence on the development of the food supply chain.