RICOWAS Full Proposal [V.1] April 26, 2021
REGIONAL PROJECT PROPOSAL
RICOWAS Project Scaling-up climate-resilient rice production in West Africa Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo
Title of Project: Scaling-up climate-resilient rice production in West Africa Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo (all countries members of ECOWAS) Thematic Focal Area: Food Security Type of Implementing Entity: Regional Implementing Entity (RIE) Implementing Entity: Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) Executing Entities: Regional level: Regional Coordination Unit based at the Regional Centre of Specialization in Rice sponsored by ECOWAS (RCoS-Rice/IER) in Mali, in partnership with Climate- Resilient Farming Systems program at Cornell University, USA National level: National Coordination Institutions Benin Secrétariat Général du Ministère de l'Agriculture, de l'Elevage et de la Pêche (SG/MAEP) / Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (INRAB)
Burkina Faso Ministère de l'agriculture et des aménagements hydro-agricoles /Direction générale des études et des statistiques sectorielles Côte d'Ivoire Ministère de l'Agriculture et du Développement Rural / Agence Nationale d'Appui au Développement Rural (ANADER) The Gambia Ministry of Agriculture Ghana CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) Guinea Institut de Recherche Agronomique (IRAG) Liberia Community of Hope Agriculture Project (CHAP) Mali Direction Nationale de l’Agriculture (DNA) Niger Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN) Nigeria Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) Senegal Agence Nationale de Conseil Agricole et Rural (ANCAR) Sierra Leone Rokupr Rice Research Centre/Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute (SLARI) Togo Institut de Conseil et d’Appui Technique (ICAT) Amount of Financing Requested 14,000,000 in U.S Dollars Equivalent
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Content PROJECT INFORMATION ...... 5
PROJECT BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT ...... 5 Bioclimatic zones of West Africa ...... 5 Topography, Geology and Soils ...... 6 Hydrology ...... 6 Land Use ...... 7 Terrestrial Flora and Fauna ...... 7 Rice Agriculture and Food Security in West Africa...... 7 Climate change vulnerabilities, impacts and risks ...... 9 Adaptation measures and project approach ...... 14 The RICOWAS project zone identification and description ...... 15 Vulnerability assessment and adaptation measures ...... 17 PROJECT OBJECTIVES ...... 23 PROJECT COMPONENTS AND FINANCING ...... 23 PROJECTED CALENDAR ...... 24 PROJECT JUSTIFICATION ...... 24
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT COMPONENTS ...... 24 PROMOTION OF NEW AND INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION ...... 33 ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS ...... 34 COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT ...... 34 CONSISTENCY WITH DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES ...... 40 ALIGNMENT WITH NATIONAL TECHNICAL STANDARDS ...... 44 PROJECT DUPLICATION ...... 46 LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ...... 52 CONSULTATIVE PROCESS ...... 53 JUSTIFICATION OF FUNDING REQUEST ...... 56 PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY ...... 57 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACTS AND RISKS ...... 57 IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS ...... 63
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS ...... 63 MEASURES FOR FINANCIAL AND PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT...... 69 MEASURES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT ...... 70 MONITORING AND EVALUATION ARRANGEMENTS AND BUDGETED M&E PLAN ...... 76 PROJECT RESULTS FRAMEWORK INCLUDING MILESTONES, TARGETS AND INDICATORS...... 81 ALIGNMENT WITH THE RESULTS FRAMEWORK OF ADAPTATION FUND ...... 87 DETAILED BUDGET (US$) ...... 89 DISBURSEMENT SCHEDULE WITH TIME-BOUND MILESTONES ...... 93 ENDORSEMENT BY GOVERNMENTS AND CERTIFICATION BY THE IE ...... 99 RECORD OF ENDORSEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT ...... 99 IMPLEMENTING ENTITY CERTIFICATION ...... 99
ANNEXES Annex 1 Endorsement Letters ...... 101 Annex 2 Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Environment and Social Management Plan (ESMP) ...... 114 Annex 3 Gender Assessment and Action Plan ...... 138 Annex 4 Cost Effectiveness Analysis ...... 162 Annex 5 Regional consultation workshop report ...... 174 Annex 6 Synthesis Report of the National Consultation Workshops ...... 184
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List of Figures: Figure 1: Bioclimatic regions of West Africa (CILSS, 2016; Landscapes of West Africa) ...... 6 Figure 2: Riede et al, 2016: Modified graphic from the IPCC chapter AR5 WG2 Chapter 22 (2014), show observed and projected changes in annual average temperature and precipitation ...... 10 Figure 3: Predicted change of seasonal precipitation for the rice main growing season at current situation, 2030, 2050, and 2070, and for the models RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) (Zwart, 2016) ...... 12 Figure 4: Predicted change of maximum temperatures for the rice main growing season at current situation, 2030, 2050, and 2070, and for the models RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) (Zwart, 2016) ...... 12 Figure 5: 1088 SRI-WAAP sites in 13 West African countries, June 2016 (not including SRI sites of partner organizations) ...... 15 Figure 6: Regional map of the project zones and communes ...... 16 Figure 7: RICOWAS project institutional arrangement organogram ...... 68
List of Tables: Table 1: Rice production, consumption, imports, population, yearly per capita consumption, and self-sufficiency rate for 13 ECOWAS countries in 2016/2017 and as estimated for 2025 ...... 8 Table 2: Demographic characteristics of the 13 RICOWAS countries ...... 9 Table 3: Simulated rice yield changes between 2000 to 2070 for RCP 2.6 for 11 West African countries ...... 13 Table 4: Simulated rice yield changes between 2000 to 2070 for RCP 8.5 for 11 West African countries ...... 13 Table 5: RICOWAS project zone characteristics for 13 countries ...... 17 Table 6: Rice systems and predicted associated area (ha) under CRRP of the RICOWAS project...... 17 Table 7: Priority concerns and vulnerabilities for the rice sector in the 13 countries...... 18 Table 8: Adaptation measures and opportunities proposed for rice sector interventions for the 13 countries ...... 18 Table 9: Project components, expected outcomes, outputs and financing ...... 23 Table 10: Production costs, return and benefit of rice production when using the SRI method and when using the conventional method at the rice plot level...... 36 Table 11: Comparison of benefits (USD/ha) obtained by using the SRI method and the conventional method of growing rice...... 37 Table 12: Additional benefits (USD) achieved when using the CRRP method compared to the conventional method, for the 13 countries, and over the project period ...... 38 Table 13: Comparison between benefits created by the project (Alternative 2) and no-project intervention (Alternative 1) ...... 39 Table 14: Financial analysis for the cost-effectiveness of the project ...... 40 Table 15: Development strategy and project consistency for 13 RICOWAS countries ...... 41 Table 16: Relevant technical standards that can be applied for environmental and social aspects ...... 45 Table 17: Relevant technical standards that can be applied to land issues ...... 46 Table 18: Relevant technical standards that can be applied to water and soil management ...... 46 Table 19: On-going and planned rice sector projects in the 13 countries of the RICOWAS project ...... 48 Table 20 : Proposed trainings and capacity strengthening events for the RICOWAS project ...... 52 Table 21: Project zone stakeholders consulted and interviewed during the proposal development process ...... 55 Table 22: National Project Preparation Validation Workshops ...... 55 Table 23 : Overview of the E&S Impacts and Risks identified as being relevant to the project ...... 58 Table 24 : Roles and responsibilities of RPMU...... 63 Table 25: National Executing Entities for RICOWAS ...... 64 Table 26 : RICOWAS project entities, their roles and functions ...... 65 Table 27 : Main financial and project risks and mitigation measures ...... 69 Table 28 : Summary of Potential Impacts and Mitigation measures...... 71 Table 29 : Roles and responsibilities of project entities ...... 77 Table 30: Roles and Responsibilities of EM Program ...... 80 Table 31: Monitoring & Evaluation Work Plan and Budget ...... 80 Table 31: RICOWAS Detailed budget ...... 89 Table 33: RICOWAS Detailed disbursement scheduled ...... 93 Table 34: Disbursement summary tab according to AF template ...... 95 Table 35: RICOWAS activities’ timeline ...... 96
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LDCs Least Developed Countries LNRDS Liberia National Rice Development Strategy ACRONYMS LuxDev Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation M&E Monitoring and Evaluation NAIP National Agricultural Investment Plan 3N Les Nigériens Nourrissent les Nigériens - Initiative NAP National Adaptation Plan AF Adaptation Fund NAP National Adaptation Plan AfT Agenda for Transformation NAPA National Adaptation Programmes of Action AGRA Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa NASPA-CCN National Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action on Climate Change for Nigeria ANCAR National Agricultural and Rural Advisory Agency - Senegal NDAs National Designated Authorities ANR Agriculture and Natural Resources NDC Nationally Determined Contributions ARCN Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria NEE National Executing Entities BMZ Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany NEPAD New Partnership for Africa's Development CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development NFs National Facilitators Programme NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations CARD Coalition for African Rice Development NRDS National Rice Development Strategy CARI Competitive African Rice Initiative NRDS/SNDR National Rice Development Strategy/Stratégie Nationale de CC Climate Change Développement du Riz CHAP Community of Hope Agriculture Project - Liberia OSS Sahara and Sahel Observatory – Observatoire du Sahara et International du Sahel CILSS Permanent Interstate Committee for drought control in the PAPD Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development Sahel PASANDAD Accelerated Food Security and Nutrition for Sustainable CNS-Riz National Rice Specialization Centre Agricultural Development Plan COP UN Climate Change Conference PDA agricultural development policy CORAF/WECARD Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le PNAR National Rice Self-Sufficiency Program Développemnt Agricole / West and Central African Council PNCC National Climate Change Program for Agricultural Research and Development PNCC National Climate Change Policy CRCOPR Network of Farmers and Producers of West Africa /ROPPA PNIASAN National Agricultural Investment and Food Security and Nutrition Plan CRRP Climate-resilient rice production PPPs Public-Private Partnerships DNA National Directorate for Agriculture - Mali PRACAS Senegalese Agriculture Cadence Acceleration Program ECOWAP Regional Agricultural Policy for West Africa PRODAM Agricultural Development Project in Matam -Senegal ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States QA/QC Quality Assurance and Quality Control EIA Environmental Impact Assessment RAIPFNS Regional Agriculture Investment Plan and Food Security ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework and Nutrition ESP Environmental and Social Policy of the Adaptation Fund RCoS-Rice Regional Center of Specialization in Rice - Mali FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations REE Regional Executing Entity FCIAD/FIRCA Competitive Fund for Sustainable Agricultural Innovation RICOWAS Scaling-up climate-resilient rice production in West Africa GIC Green Innovation Centers Project GIZ German Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit RIE Regional Implementing Entity ICTs Information and communication technologies RSC Regional Steering Committee IE Implementing Entity RTA-AP Rice Transformation Agenda- Action Plan IER Mali's Institute of Rural Economy SARI/ CSIR Savanna Agricultural Research Institute - Ghana IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development SDDCI Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth Strategy IGA Income Generating Activity SG/MAEP General Secretariat - Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries -Benin INDC Intended Nationally Determined Contributions SLARI Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute / Rokupr Rice INGO International non-governmental organization Research Centre INRAN National Agricultural Research Institute of Niger SLWM Sustainable Land and Water Management IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change SRI System of Rice Intensification IPM Integrated Pest (and disease) Management SRI-WAAPP Improving and Scaling up the System of Rice Intensification IVS Inland Valley Swamps in West Africa - Project JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency ToT Training of Trainers KAP Knowledge, Attitude and Practices UEMOA West African Economic and Monetary Union LASIP Liberia Agriculture Sector Investment Plan USAID United States Agency for International Development WAAPP West Africa Agriculture Productivity Program
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PROJECT INFORMATION Project Background and Context 1. West Africa has had an impressive economic growth in the past two decades, with economic growth rates at above 5% between 2000 and 2014 (Africa's Development Dynamics 2018)1. Yet it is uneven as Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire represent 85% of regional Gross domestic product (GDP). High informality, increasing inequalities and poverty also undermine growth resilience. Growth in the region is not only driven by the oil and mineral sectors but also by the agricultural sector, which has been the fastest-growing in the world since the 1980s. Agriculture is still the major source of food, income and livelihood for 70–80 percent of the population but it is not currently able to meet the growing food needs of the population. Rapid population growth and increasing urbanization have increased food needs and changed the consumption patterns of the population with a shift towards a higher consumption of imported cereals (wheat and rice). Today, West Africa is the rice basket of Sub-Saharan Africa, producing over two-thirds of its rice. Rice is a staple crop that has been grown in West Africa for more than 3500 years since the domestication of African rice (Oryza glaberrima). Produced by low-income smallholders across the entire region, rice plays a key role in regional food security for rural and urban populations. In recent years, increasing demand stemming from population growth and steady increases in annual per capita consumption (combined at 5.93% per year from 2010-2017; with per capita consumption in 2017 as high as 164 kg in Sierra Leone and 150 kg in Guinea) has outpaced production (4.1% per year for the same time period), leading to ever-increasing rice imports from Asia, accounting for 46% of total rice consumption in 2017. This places a heavy burden on government budgets and exposes the region to the volatility of world market prices. This became apparent in 2008, when world market prices tripled in less than four months, resulting in riots (e.g. Liberia, Senegal) over a staple food that the majority of the population could not afford anymore.2 In response, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) launched a regional Rice Offensive in 2013 intending to achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2025. 2. The regional Rice Offensive is supported by the National Rice Development Strategies (NRDS), which detail plans to increase rice production on the path to national rice self-sufficiency. It is predicted that between 2017 and 2025 rice consumption in West Africa will continue to increase overall by 32% (from 18.2 million tons to 24.1 million tons of milled rice) based on the population growth in West Africa from 366 million people in 2017 to 450 million in 2025, combined with an estimated increase in per capita consumption from 50 to 54 kilograms during the same time period3 4. This creates a challenge, but the untapped potential to increase rice production is high in West Africa. Yields have remained low at 2.1 t/ha, the availability of under-utilized land is still relatively extensive and climate-resilient rice production techniques are available but not yet widely disseminated and adopted. 3. By using the climate-resilient rice production (CRRP) approach (see below for more details), the Rice Offensive can address several critical challenges simultaneously: respond to increasing rice consumption needs, strengthen livelihoods of rice farming communities, allow for diversification of economic activities along the rice value chain, improve the overall national economic well-being, free up hard currency – previously used for rice imports - for other national needs, and contribute to political stability. All in all, this will allow adaption to the imminent climate change threats to this key economic sector, and free human, environmental, and financial capital to tackle other pressing adaptation priorities. West Africa has been identified to be particularly vulnerable to climate change due to the combination of naturally high levels of climate variability, high reliance on rainfed agriculture, and limited economic and institutional capacity to cope with climate change. 5 Bioclimatic zones of West Africa 4. The West African climate is characterized by a strong latitudinal rainfall gradient, separating the region into the humid tropical rainforest zone in the south (Guineo-Congolian region), to humid semi-deciduous forest zone (Guinean region), changing into sub-humid savanna zones (Sudanian Region) and the semi-arid short grass savanna zones (Sahelian region). As climate bands extend from east to west, each country in West Africa (except for The Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone) includes two to three climate zones, and even four in Nigeria (Figure 1). 6 5. Each climate zone crosses several of the 13 countries participating in the RICOWAS project: Sahelian zone crosses 5 countries: Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Northern Nigeria Sudanian zone crosses 10 countries: The Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Northern Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Northern Ghana, Togo and Benin and large parts of Nigeria.
1 https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/africa-s-development-dynamics-2018_9789264302501-en 2 Styger and Traoré, 2018. 50,000 Farmers in 13 countries; Results from Scaling-up SRI in West Africa. CORAF, Dakar, Senegal. 3 FAOSTAT Online Database; http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home; 4 Fofana et al, 2014. Impact simulation of ECOWAS rice self-sufficiency policy. IFPRI discussion paper 1405, Washington DC. 5 Sultan and Gaetani, 2016. Agriculture in West Africa in the 21 Century: Climate Change and Impacts Scenarios, and Potential for Adaptation. Frontiers in Plant Science (7), Article 1262, 1-20. 6 CILSS, 2016. Landscapes of West Africa. A window on a changing world. Geological Survey EROS, Garretson, SD.
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