Nigeria is missing from the list of beneficiary countries for the $315 million World Bank fund for African countries to support food security.
The second phase of the West Africa regional Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP-2) approved yesterday in International Development Association (IDA) financing will benefit an additional two million Africans- from Chad, Ghana, and Sierra Leone.
Nigeria was not included in the new financing plan that will help to increase the effectiveness of agriculture and food crisis prevention and management and strengthen the capacities to adapt to climate variability and change.
The financing plan is also expected to strengthen the adaptive capacity of the food system’s productive base and make it sustainable and 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.
Nigeria was also not part of the first phase of the program, FSRP-1, $330 million was approved in November 2021 and launched in June 2022, bringing together four countries-Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Togo.
Annual commitments by International Development Association (IDA) have averaged about $18 billion over the last three years, with about 54 percent going to Africa.