PROCUREMENT OF FOOD STOCKS

The National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) carries out its mandate of purchasing, storing, and managing the National Food Reserve with the objective of ensuring food security in the country. This exercise is conducted annually in line with crop production trends and Government guidelines. Each year, procurement is implemented using a combination of four main approaches: buying centres, agents, farmer groups, and forward contracts (future contracts) with large-scale farmers and traders who supply the Agency.

Procurement through Buying Centres

The Agency uses mobile buying centres, which are opened in designated areas. These centres are established in areas with high grain production in order to minimize the risk of inadequate supply due to price competition. The centres enable the Agency to reach a large number of farmers more closely, reduce the costs associated with opening multiple centres, and purchase large volumes of grains within a short period of time.

Criteria for Establishing a Buying Centre

The following criteria are considered before opening a buying centre:

• Availability of verified data confirming surplus production of the respective crop (maize, paddy, or sorghum) in the proposed area;
• Availability of a suitable warehouse (meeting required standards) for storing the purchased grains;
• Favorable local market purchase prices and level of market competition;
• Availability of labour, such as casual workers;
• Accessible infrastructure and road network;
• Acceptance of the location by Regional, District, Council, Ward, and Village leadership;
• Security of the area;
• Geographical distribution and distance considerations;
• Availability of essential services for key technical staff participating in the exercise at the respective centre; and
• Permanent (traditional) buying centres are given priority, as these are locations where extensive training on quality standards and procurement criteria has already been provided.

QUALITY STANDARDS CONSIDERED BY THE AGENCY

The Agency adheres to quality standards in order to protect consumer health. For white sorghum, white maize, and paddy (rice), quality is assessed as shown in the table below:

STORAGE OF GRAINS

After completion of the procurement , the Agency stores the purchased food in silos and warehouses for use when needed. These warehouses are located in key production and distribution areas across the country. In storing grains, the Agency undertakes the following activities:

i. Packing grains into bags weighing 50 kg or 90 kg;
ii. Stacking grain bags in a prescribed arrangement (in stacks) on pallets laid on the warehouse floor;
iii. Fumigation to control storage pests;
iv. Transporting crops from buying centres to zonal warehouses;
v. Continuously monitoring the quality of grains in warehouses throughout the storage period and carrying out fumigation when necessary; and
vi. Transferring food from surplus production areas to food-deficit areas in order to strengthen reserves in deficit regions while creating storage space in areas with surplus stocks.