SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Nov. 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Two officials from the UN World Food Program have traveled to Tenerife, La Palma and Gran Canaria to hold meetings with various companies and purchase 1,000 tons of gofio so that this food helps alleviate famine in Africa.
The program considers that gofio “is a superfood, rich in vitamins, healthy and easy both to transport and to cook” and “it could be the solution” to alleviate hunger in Africa, to the point that several Canarian companies are already known for the supplies they have made to the Saharawi camps in southern Algeria.
In its search, the UN contacted ‘Tenerife Licita’, the program of the Chamber of Commerce of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Cabildo de Tenerife specialized in helping companies on the island to compete in international tenders from organizations such as the UN itself. , the European Commission, the World Bank or regional banks such as the African Development Bank.
In fact, the Chamber details in a note, ‘Tenerife Licita’ is a support office for the private sector of the World Bank and a trade promotion agency for the United Nations.
With this background, an initial meeting was held, followed by a round of contacts with possible companies and several visits to companies and mills to learn about their potential to become an official supplier of the World Food Program.
This body is the second largest in the United Nations with an annual budget of 4.9 billion euros.
At the United Nations there is great concern about the famine situation in East Africa and they warn that more than 50 million people will suffer “high levels of acute food insecurity” according to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
For this reason, they wanted to highlight the growing need to buy food products that will increase in the coming years on the continent and the purchase of 1,000 tons of gofio per year could be only the beginning of an “unprecedented opportunity” for the Canarian business fabric, they highlight. from the Chamber.
This is not the first time that United Nations officials have worked with the Canary Islands, as the archipelago is an advanced base to deploy their humanitarian action.
Thus, the New York head office contacted ‘Tenerife Licita’ with an extensive list of everything required by Minurso, the mission for the referendum in Western Sahara, such as vehicle tires, pens and vaccines.
“Everything must come from abroad and the Canary Islands are just over a hundred kilometers away, which is why the Archipelago is positioned as an ideal enclave for United Nations operations on the neighboring continent,” says the chamber organization.
