Sierra Leone - Emergency Food Production Program

The proposed operation is a grant of UA One Million, Five Hundred Thousand to the Republic of Sierra Leone to finance the Emergency Food Production Programme. This amount is meant to come from the TSF unallocated reserves. It is a Sector Budget Support prepared under the African Emergency Food Production Facility (AEFPF) and will be implemented from 2022 to 2024. The project is designed within the framework of the government’s Quick Action Food Security Response Plan (QA-FSRP) to the war-induced food security threat. The Programme is the Bank Group’s contribution to the QA-FSRP to deal with the rising food prices caused by the Ukraine war. It will focus on the production, harvesting and marketing of rice. The Ministry of Agriculture will provide smart subsidies to reduce the cost of certified rice seeds and fertilizers available to smallholder farmers, through the established e-wallet input distribution system over two cropping seasons. Bank resources will assist the government to give farmers access to certified seeds. The project primarily contributes to climate adaptation results. As such, 50% of the total approved amount is attributed as climate finance, of which approximately 1 million USD is dedicated to adaptation.