In 2019, the United Nations spent more than $2.2 billion in the food and farming sector. Like the health sector, the food and farming sector has a strong connection to several UN organizations’ core mandates. For example, the World Food Programme (WFP), provides food assistance to meet emergency needs, and to support economic and social development. WFP is the primary buyer in this category. In 2019, WFP spent $1.7 billion or over 75% of the total spent in this category. Their key food and farming subcategories include wheat, rice, maize, and dry pulses, among others. If you are a supplier in these subcategories, we recommend visiting WFP’s website at http://www1.wfp.org/for additional information about opportunities and vendor registration procedures at WFP. The United States however, is not in the top five supplier countries. The top five vendor countries include Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Kenya, and Belgium.
The table below outlines the top 10 subcategories for 95% of the total spent in this category. As you will see, spending in each subcategory tends to be dominated by a single UN organization procuring between 90 and 100 percent of that category. For example, the World Food Programme (WFP) procured about 96 percent of all cereal and pulse products, while the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) procured most of the Seeds and Bulbs and Seedlings and Cuttings products.
2019 United Nations Procurement – Food and Farming – Top 10 Subcategories (Excluding
World Food Programme)
|
Categories |
Total 2019 Procurement (in $ millions) |
Largest procuring organization |
Largest organization 2019 procurement (in $ millions) |
Largest organization’s % share of total 2019 procurement |
||
|
Cereal and pulse products |
1,101.2 |
WFP |
1,060.9 |
96.3% |
||
|
Prepared and preserved foods |
498.3 |
UNPD |
282.2 |
56.6% |
||
|
Nutritional supplements |
193.7 |
WFP |
192.0 |
99.1% |
||
|
Edible oils and fats |
178.5 |
WFP |
172.7 |
96.8% |
||
|
Chocolate and sugars and sweeteners and confectionary products |
39.8 |
WFP |
36.2 |
91.0% |
||
|
Seeds and bulbs and seedlings and cuttings |
37.4 |
FAO |
35.8 |
95.7% |
||
|
Agricultural and forestry and landscape machinery and equipment |
31.4 |
UNDP |
11.7 |
37.3% |
||
|
Water resources development and oversight |
26.2 |
FAO |
9.8 |
37.4% |
||
|
Animal feed |
19.0 |
FAO |
18.0 |
94.7% |
||
|
Fertilizers and plant nutrients and herbicides |
16.2 |
FAO |
15.5 |
95.7% |
||
|
Top 10 Total |
2,141.6 |
|
1,834.8 |
|
||
|
Grand Total |
2,244.6 |
|
|
|
||
Source: 2019 Annual Statistical Report on United Nations Data