The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program is a global school feeding program promoting education, child development and food security for some of the world's poorest children. The potato granules purchased under this program will be utilized in Cameroon by the private voluntary organization (PVO) Counterpart International as part of a three-year school feeding project. The project will ultimately use 1,986 MT of dehydrated potatoes and will promote the growing of fresh potatoes by Cameroon's citizens to develop a more sustainable food source.
Prior to the purchase, only U.S. dehydrated potato flakes had been approved and purchased for food assistance programs. The inclusion of fortified potato granules marks an achievement for the USPB, which promotes the suitability of dehydrated potato products as a base for fortification.
As a result of the USPB International Food Assistance Program and the support of the National Potato Council (NPC) in Washington, D.C., demand for U.S. dehydrated potatoes as a solution to food insecurity continues to expand in both volume and scope. These new flake and granule purchases bring the amount of dehy sold through USDA food aid programs since 2001 to 1,621,005 cwt on a fresh-weight equivalent (FWE) basis, valued at $12.6 million. USDA purchases of U.S. dehydrated potato products should increase with the inclusion of fortified granules in addition to flakes.
Contact Dirk Jan Kennes at dirk.jan.kennes@rabobank.com.