Additional Financing to West Africa Food Systems Resilience Program, Phase 1

active

Description of New Activities and Activities to be Scaled Up under the Additional Financing Component 1: Digital Advisory Services for regional agriculture and food crisis prevention and management System (US$1.5 million). Under this component the AF will add a new activity to strengthen Togo’s FNS information and monitoring system and scale-up the parent project’s existing activities to strengthen the Cadre Harmonise and risk detection. Subcomponent 1.1: Upgrading Food Crisis Prevention and Monitoring Systems – US$1.5 million GAFSP. The AF will include a new activity to support the FNS through support to government departments responsible for agricultural statistics and monitoring and evaluation to carry out relevant surveys nationwide and provide technical assistance to improve the collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of data. The AF will scale-up activities under Component 1 of the parent project to strengthen risk detection mechanisms to ensure effective preparedness and timely response while strengthening the country’s resilience to climate shocks. It will also scale up activities of the parent project which strengthen the existing collaboration between the national institutions working on early warning and CILSS. Finally, it will finance a Food Crisis Preparedness and Response Plan to strengthen disaster preparedness at community level and cover all the costs associated with increased data collection and processing, including the completion of field-level surveys linked to the Cadre Harmonise. Component 2: Sustainability and Adaptive Capacity of the Food System’s Productive Base (US$ 15.0 million). The AF will scale up existing interventions linked to the parent project while placing additional emphasis on improving nutrition outcomes. Subcomponent 2.1: Consolidate Regional Agricultural Innovation System - AF US$ 2.0 million GAFSP. The AF will scale-up research, innovation and extension services promoted under the parent project to invest in: i) equipment and knowledge related to vegetable farming in close collaboration with the National Center of Specialization in Fruits and Vegetables Burkina Faso; and ii) increased adoption of climate-smart practices and nutrition education- with a particular focus on youth and women. Climate-smart agriculture and nutrition education: To promote the adoption of climate-smart, gender- and nutrition-sensitive technologies in the targeted value chains, 400 extension workers8 will be trained in CSA practices and nutrition-smart agriculture, with an aim to specifically include women who are traditionally excluded from extension education. Following these trainings, they will be supported to establish farmer field schools and train farmers for the adoption of improved technologies. To foster gender-responsive nutrition education on the requirements of a safe, healthy, and diverse diet, the AF will build the capacity of 300 female trainers selected from the National Network of Women Farmers of Togo in the fields of food processing, storage (including to reduce risks of aflatoxin contamination), nutrition and food hygiene. Once trained, the women will establish a network of trainers who will replicate the training within their communities. Subcomponent 2.2: Strengthening Regional Food Security through Integrated Landscape Management (US$ 13.0 million). Under this sub-component, the AF will scale up existing activities to promote producers’ access to high quality inputs with a special focus on crops with high nutritional value and with special considerations for women, given that women frequently lack access to quality inputs. It will also add two new activities to support: i) households in the acquisition of improved breeds (poultry and small ruminants); ii) animal health; and iii) increased production and use of organic fertilizers and biopesticides. Vegetable production: To promote vegetable production, the AF will provide support to 2,600 producers (at least 60 percent of whom will be women) at a total of 60 sites to i) set up small-scale irrigation systems; and ii) access output markets. More specifically, the AF will support producers with irrigation kits based on solar pumping systems and support the drilling of the corresponding wells. These activities will focus on women, who traditionally lack access to agricultural assets. In addition, the AF will finance training sessions for women and youth on market access, and climate-resilient land management practices related to vegetable production and nutrition-smart agriculture under the responsibility of National Extension Agency, the Institute for Advice and Technical Support (ICAT). The trainings will be based on the establishment of supervised field schools or production plots using the farmer business school approach. In addition, nutrition education classes will be provided to producers. About 400 young people (40 percent women) will receive training on the maintenance of small irrigation infrastructure and equipment, facilitated through matching grants. Scale-up production of high nutritional value crops: To foster the production of crops with high nutritional value (orange-fleshed sweet potato, moringa, biofortified maize, cowpea and soybeans) and the increased use of organic fertilizers, 71,000 vulnerable producers, including 20,000 rice producers (60 percent women), 15,000 corn producers (40 percent women), 1,000 soybean producers (40 percent women), 20,000 market gardeners (60 percent women) and 15,000 cowpea producers (40 percent women) will be identified and supported with kits made up of subsidized seeds, fertilizers and biofertilizers. These kits will contribute to reducing gender gaps related to the use of agricultural inputs considering that female producers generally lack access to inputs. Seeds for food crops will be purchased primarily from the national network of certified seed producers in Togo (RNPSC-T)9. The kits will be distributed in accordance with arrangements put in place by the GoT as part of the "inputs for grain" program led by Togo's National Food Security Agency (ANSAT). Inputs will be delivered through a credit-based system where beneficiaries will receive inputs at the beginning of the planting season and pay back for the inputs in kind upon harvest. ANSAT will collect harvested products equivalent to the value of the inputs supplied to operate a revolving fund. This scheme facilitating access to inputs has already been implemented during past farming seasons with satisfactory results. It is being scaled up during the ongoing 2023-2024 farming season with the support of the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), the Kara agropole, the Food Crisis Response and Emergency Support Programme in Togo (PRCASUT) funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) as well as the Project to Strengthen Food Systems for Sustainable Access to Agricultural Inputs for Small Producers (Pro-SADI) funded by the European Union and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP). If feasible, the production of other drought resilient crops such as millet will also be supported. New activities on animal breeds and health: To improve livestock productivity and harness additional income generating opportunities, the AF will provide support for 2,000 beneficiaries (40 percent female) in acquiring improved livestock breeds and in improving animal health (vaccination campaigns for poultry and small ruminants) and animal shelter.10 Beneficiary households will be provided with about 800 poultry and 1200 small ruminants. To improve animal health in targeted areas for the benefit of a total of 4,000 farmers (40 percent female), including 2,000 who have received improved livestock breeds, the AF will acquire vaccines and carry out vaccination campaigns. This will involve the acquisition of i) 10,000 doses of vaccine against ‘peste des petits ruminants (PPR)’; ii) 60,000 doses of vaccine