Is it permissible to give dates and dried yoghurt for zakat al-fitr to people who do not regard them as staple foods?

What should be given for zakat al-fitr is
that which is the local staple food. If their staple food is dates or dried
yoghurt or raisins, it is permissible to give it. Whatever is not regarded
as a staple food is not acceptable as zakat al-fitr. This is indicated by
the words of Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him):  At the
time of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) on
the day of (Eid) al-Fitr, we used to give (as zakat al-fitr) a saa‘ of
foodstuff, and our food at that time was barley, raisins, dried yoghurt, and
dates.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (1510) and Muslim
(985). 

The Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with
them) gave these kinds of food because that was their staple food at that
time. 

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:

The more correct view in our opinion is
that zakat al-fitr must be given in the form of the usual staple food of the
country. This is also the view of Maalik. Abu Haneefah said: One has the
choice. One view was narrated from Ahmad that nothing is acceptable except
the five kinds mentioned in the texts: dates, raisins, wheat, barley and
dried yoghurt.

End quote from al-Majmoo‘ (6/112) 

Al-Baaji said in Sharh al-Muwatta’:
Of what should the saa‘ be? Ibn al-Qaasim said, narrating from Maalik, that
it should be the usual staple food of the country. This was also the view of
Abu ‘Ali ibn Abi Hurayrah among the companions of ash-Shaafa‘i. End quote. 

In al-Mawsoo ‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (23/343) it
says: … The Maalikis are of the view that it should be given in the form of
the usual local staple food, such as lentils (daal), rice, foul (fava
beans), wheat, barley, dates, dried yogurt, and pearl millet. Anything other
than that is not acceptable, unless the people use it as a staple food and
do not use the kinds of food mentioned above. End quote. 

This view was favoured by Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him), as stated in al-Fataawa al-Kubra
(2/157). Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about
giving barley for zakat al-fitr, as we have heard from you that it is not
acceptable, as appears to be the case. We hope that you can explain? 

He replied: You said that you heard from
us that giving barley for zakat al-fitr is not acceptable, as appears to be
the case, but we said that regarding people for whom barley is not a staple
food. That is because the wisdom behind prescribing zakat al-fitr is that it
should be food for the poor, and that can only be achieved if it is a staple
food eaten by the people. Dates and barley are mentioned in the hadeeth of
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) not because there is a
connection between them, rather it is because they were the usual staple
foods eaten by people at that time. That is based on the report narrated by
al-Bukhaari in his chapter on charity before Eid, from Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri
(may Allah be pleased with him) who said: At the time of the Messenger of
Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) on the day of (Eid) al-Fitr,
we used to give (as zakat al-fitr) a saa‘ of foodstuff. And Abu Sa‘eed said:
And our food at that time was barley, raisins, dried yoghurt, and dates. 

End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa
(18/282) 

What the Muslim must do is give zakat al-fitr
in the form of whatever is regarded as staple food in his country, so as to
fulfil the wisdom behind this zakaah, which is to make the poor independent
of means so that they do not have to ask of people on the day of Eid. 

And Allah knows best.