Food Aid Flowing in 2019

The 2019 market year is off to a strong start with several food aid tenders for different types of dry beans for a variety of destinations. Bids have been awarded for pintos, small reds, and a very large tender for Great Northerns to Yemen. Another tender for black beans to Guatemala was not filled due to cost prohibitive testing requirements for mycotoxins. USDBC has reached out to USDA to discuss the mycotoxin testing issue and hopes to resume the conversation once the government reopens. The tender for Yemen alone exceeds the total annual procurement of dry beans for food aid for the last four years putting us on a path to reestablish our presence in global food assistance programs.

Separately, USDBC returned from a trade mission to Sub Saharan Africa in December and reported new opportunities to support and extend local production of roasted bean flour in Tanzania, Burundi, and other countries in Africa. We are also exploring the opportunity to work with the World Food Programme (WFP) in developing a bean-based fortified blended food for WFP. The development and use of fortified foods that address malnutrition as well as hunger is a priority for U.S. government feeding programs. This will be discussed with the food aid committee at our upcoming board meeting next month. A full report on the food aid trade mission is forthcoming.