Additional Financing to the Food Systems Resilience Program for Eastern and Southern Africa – Phase 1 under the Multi-Phase Program

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The project is the first phase of a a horizontal Multi-Phase Programmatic Approach (MPA). This MPA (referred to as "the Program") provides a flexible menu of interventions aimed at increasing the resilience of food systems and preparedness against food insecurity in participating countries. The Program aims to tackle both the underlying structural challenges of food insecurity and reduce beneficiaries’ sensitivity to unpredictable climate, crisis and conflict events. The Program consists of six components: (i) (Re-)building Resilient Agriculture Production Capacity, (ii) Supporting the Sustainable Development of Natural Resources for Resilient Agricultural Landscapes, (iii) Getting to Markets, (iv) Promoting a Greater Focus on Food Systems Resilience in National and Regional Policymaking, (v) CERC and (vi) Project Management. This first phase of the MPA covers: Ethiopia, Madagascar, the Intergovernmental Development Agency (IGAD) and the Center for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA). Other countries, both IDA and IBRD, yet to be identified, would access the MPA depending on their readiness. EthiopiaThe Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP) will be implemented in eight National Regional states: Oromia, Amhara, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR), Tigray, Sidama, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella, Harari and Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa City Administrations. The project would include 4 major components. Component 1: “Transforming Agricultural Services and Innovation Systems” (under Component of the MPA) promotes the adoption of improved agricultural practices, key to ensuring resilience of food production and food security through farmer-led actions. The component would focus on the entire ecosystem of agricultural services to enable the adoption of improved technologies and sustainable agricultural practices on-farm and post-harvest/production. The component consists of three sub-components: (i) “Promoting Efficiency, Outreach and Efficacy in Agricultural Services” which would strengthen agricultural extension services, support agricultural training services, support plant protection and animal health services, and support public agricultural regulatory services; (ii) “Commercialized Agricultural Technology Generation and Research Systems” would provide support to research activities within both public and private institutions to increase productivity of crop and livestock production and (iii) support the delivery of digital agricultural services (such as agro-meteorology or soil health). Component 2: “Resilient Small-Scale Irrigation Development and Management” (under Component 2 of the MPA) would support the development of irrigation, through small scale irrigation (SSI) schemes and micro-scale irrigation technologies (MSIT). This would include alongside irrigation infrastructure development in SSI, water harvesting structures to enhance water storage at field and watershed level, investments in support of the farmer-led process of accessing, investing, and adopting MSIT. It would consist of two components: (i) Small-Scale and Household Irrigation Development which would develop irrigation infrastructure through the rehabilitation of existing SSI schemes and construction of new irrigation schemes which includes water storage infrastructures such as small dams, ponds/tanks and other relevant community and household water harvesting structures and (ii) Water Management and Infrastructure Governance which would support the establishment of Irrigation Water Users’ Associations (IWUAs) and targeted capacity building to enable them to become effective organizations, capable of managing and maintaining the irrigation systems they are assigned to. Component 3: “Food Market Development” (under Component 3 of the MPA) will improve the competitiveness of strategic agricultural value chains in Ethiopia. It would comprise four su b-components: (i) “Improved Market Services”, which will provide support to strengthen market-related services including digital platforms for facilitating transactions and innovation by value chain actors, ensuring food safety, rehabilitation of feeder roads, improving traceability, trade facilitation, export promotion, and agribusiness regulation and build including financial systems; (ii) “Enterprise Development” which will provide business development, skills training, and incubation support to enterprises (defined broadly as group based (such as Common Interest Groups (CIGs) or cooperatives) or private (sole or partnership proprietorships) and training/awareness on the need to conserve the environment and use of risk-reducing practices/actions to improve resilience to climate change and (iii) "Strengthening Smallholder Farmers’ Market Linkages", which will build the capacity of farmers’ organizations and institutions involved in climate-smart value chain development; and (iv)“Strengthening value chains” which would, through an analytical approach, identify value chain bottlenecks, coordinate amongst stakeholders, and provide strategic investments to overcome these bottlenecks. This would be through competitive, matching grant to enterprises for the construction of cooling facilities or warehouses, for example. Component 4: “Improving Enabling Environment for Food Systems Transformation, and Project Management” (under Component 4 and 6 of the MPA) would support the creation of an enabling environment for food system as well as provide support to the implementation and monitoring of the Policy. It would also support project management (including fiduciary, procurement and environment and social risk management) and ensure that the Project’s performance and impact are carefully tracked for informed decisions for better project management and result. Component 5: Contingency Emergency Response Component (US$0). Following an adverse natural event that results in a major natural disaster, the GoE may request the World Bank to reallocate project funds to support short-term response and reconstruction efforts. This subcomponent would draw resources from the unallocated expenditure category and/or allow the government to request the World Bank to recategorize and reallocate funds from other project components to partially cover emergency response expenditures. MadagascarThis project is being prepared in the context of a declining performance of agriculture systems, a major threat to Madagascar’s food security. In 2021, Madagascar for the first time joined Haiti, Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen, and 23 other food security “hot-spot” countries around the globe that are struggling to feed themselves. Among this list, Madagascar stands alone as the one country in which conflict is not among key drivers of food insecurity. Madagascar’s acute and increasing vulnerability to climate change and extreme weather events—especially cyclones, flooding, and drought, amplified by accelerating loss of ecosystems and natural resource depletion, are undermining the country’s agriculture and food systems and threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions.Component 1: “(Re-)building Resilient Agricultural Production Capacity.” This component will support improved research and innovations development and the strengthening service, information, and technology delivery systems. It will finance agricultural R&D and the deployment of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) innovations as well as the development of pluralistic and farmer-responsive delivery mechanisms. This component will finance infrastructure (e.g. storage facilities, sheds and barns), goods (seed, fertilizer, etc) and equipment (machinery etc), capacity building, and technical assistance for public or semi-public goods and services such as agricultural research and information systems, extension and advisory services, and risk management tools. To enhance service delivery, the Project will pilot or scale up the use of public-private appr