An additional two million farmers in Ghana, Chad and Sierra Leone will benefit from the $315 million recently approved as part of the second phase of the West Africa Regional Food Systems Resilience Programme (FSRP-2).
The food security financing programme is an initiative of the International Development Association (IDA), a member of the World Bank Group.
A statement by the World Bank, as seen by Business Insider Africa, explained that the funding is intended to help the above-mentioned countries increase their resilience against food insecurity. This is especially critical at this time, amid projections that nearly 40 million people across West Africa are prone to hunger due to food scarcity.
ECOWAS’ Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Ms Massandjé Toure-Litse, shed more light on the food crisis in West Africa, saying:
“Multiple shocks, driven by climate change and environmental degradation, weaknesses of the food markets, conflicts and insecurity, Covid-19 implications, and the war in Ukraine have further deteriorated food insecurity and inflation across West Africa. FSRP-2 further expands cooperation across the ECOWAS region to ensure food security, now and into the future.”
Also commenting on the development was the World Bank’s Director for Regional Integration for Sub-Saharan Africa, Boutheina Guermazi. She said there are high expectations for the programme.
“The approval of FSRP-2 and incorporation of Chad, Ghana and Sierra Leone expands impacts not just of national activities, but of targeted spill-over effects from regional activities. We are eager for this innovative program to maximize its reach across West Africa,” she said.
Below are some of the ways the second phase of the West Africa regional Food Systems Resilience Programme is expected to help the beneficiary countries:
o It will help to increase the effectiveness of agriculture and food crisis prevention and management.
o It will strengthen the adaptive capacity of the food system’s productive base and make it sustainable.
o It will also support the regional food market’s integration by linking the beneficiary countries, consolidating their food reserve systems, and strengthening the development of strategic regional value chains.
It’s important to note that in view of the second phase of the programme, the total amount so far approved under the IDA’s Food Systems Resilience Programme is currently at $645 million.
