Over 100 Small and Medium Businesses Supply Food for School Food Programs

Over 100 Small and Medium Businesses Supply Food for School Food Programs
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 11/6/2012

At the moment, there are ay least 134 micro, small and medium-sized businesses, known as MIPYMES in Spanish, that have signed service contracts to supply components to the School Food Program (PAE in Spanish) which impacts the strengthening of these production units, the local economy and the preservation of nearly 5,000 direct jobs and around 15,000 indirect jobs.

An example of this is that PAE suppliers buy milk from the 861 MIPYMES cattle farmers and milk producers who employ an average of 8 workers, thus generating 6,888 indirect jobs.

An example of this is that PAE suppliers buy milk from the 861 MIPYMES cattle farmers and milk producers who employ an average of 8 workers, thus generating 6,888 indirect jobs.

Statistics about the impact of the PAE in the development of the MIPYMES was provided by René Jáquez Gil, Director of the National Institute of Student Welfare (INABIE) in a talk he gave about the Education Ministry’s New Policies on School Nutrition and the participation of national producers in the PAE. He was at the XIII National Congress of Agriculture Sector Leaders, organized by the Agro-Business Organization in the municipality of Jarabacoa.

Jáquez Gil said of the number of employees with connections to the suppliers, 92% can be categorized as micro or small companies, of which 37% have fewer than 10 employees and 55% have between 11 and 200 workers. In addition, there is one large company (0.73% of the total) with 251 to 500 employees and two macro companies with more than 500 employees, whichaccounts for 1.46%.

Jáquez Gil stressed that these small companies are managed with a high sense of efficiency and, in general, supply nearly 4.2 million rations of bread per week and 2.8 million pastries for that same period. He used the last 2 months as an example saying that he’d only received one negative report from a pastry shop and one complaint from the PAE Real supplier. Both cases referred to the same school.

New Plans

Jáquez Gil announced that with the goal of expanding coverage of food for school breakfasts, INABIEhas designed two pilot plans that will go into effect in 2013, one of which will be implemented with a bid from the United Nation’s World Food Program (WFP) and will significantly impact banana producers and implies adding bananas to the students’ daily diet.

He also said the program has awakened a great deal of interest in Associated Producers of the South who have shown they are interested in participating. The other project seeks to obtain a vitamin supplement that will provide up to 75% of daily required nutrients. He said this supplement will also require the collaboration of the PMA.

Information about the PAE

ThePAE operates in three modalities: Urban Marginal, Real and Border. Investment budgeted and used implemented by the DGBE in 2012 reached a total of 4.061 million Dominican pesos of which 3,744 million were earmarked exclusively for the acquisition of food products. This program represents 92.2% of the total investments of the Student Welfare Project.

The daily consumption budgeted for the academic year is 21.4 million pesos. It will directly benefit a total of 1,465,341 schoolchildren throughout the country.

René Jáquez, Director of theNational Institute of Student Welfare speaking aboutthe Education Ministry’s New Policies on School Nutrition and the participation of the national producers in the PAE at the XIII National Congress of Agriculture Sector Leaders, organized by the Agro-Business Organization in the municipality of Jarabacoa.