Ghana, Mali, Senegal receive World Bank agricultural loans

The World Bank is to lend a total US$45 million for the first phase of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) in three : Ghana, Mali and Senegal. The funds will be divided equally among the three countries. The funds are to generate and disseminate improved agricultural technology in these countries’ top priority areas,as identified by the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research CORAF(WECARD/CORAF). The three countries have committed to provide part of the credit proceeds, a total of US$3 million, to CORAF to help coordinate the regional project.

The West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) will generate and disseminate improved technologies in the participating countries focusing on roots and tubers in Ghana, rice in Mali and cereals in Senegal.

“The WAAPP will mainly focus on making agriculture more productive and sustainable and promote regional integration initiatives in the agricultural sector. It reflects the Bank’s commitment to Africa’s regional cooperation in agriculture, and will be one of the Bank’s key contributions to the implementation of broadly supported agricultural strategies Africa-wide,” said Mark Tomlinson.

The food and cash crops whose production the WAAPP sets out to boost provide the greatest contribution to the region’s agricultural growth and to producers’ incomes. Sustained productivity is critical if the region is to significantly raise agricultural yields and reduce poverty.

"The region’s consumers, particularly those affected by extreme poverty, are the ultimate beneficiaries of the WAAPP. Agricultural producers and agribusinesses, as users of the improved technology, are the primary beneficiaries of the program,” said Ismael Ouedraogo, the World Bank team leader of the Project.

The WAAPP is a sub-regional program shared by all fifteen member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.