Sahel Adaptive Social Protection Program

A trusted catalytic partnership to reduce extreme poverty and strengthen resilience across the Sahel

SASPP is a program supported by a multi-donor trust fund managed by the World Bank. Founded in 2014, it currently operates under the SAWAC umbrella program, a regional initiative for the Sahel and West Africa Coastal Countries. For over ten years, SASPP has been supporting governments in six countries—Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal—in advancing national priorities toward adaptive social protection (ASP).

SASPP is also a regional platform of technical support, knowledge generation and curation, and financing, to advance government-led ASP. Its comparative advantages include: a unique global expertise across all aspects of the ASP agenda; a sustained in-country presence and technical support in volatile contexts, even when financing is suspended; and a long-standing engagement with national institutions. Its complementarity with World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) funding, has leveraged over US$1.2 billion of IDA to promote ASP investments.  SASPP is helping create the conditions for national ASP systems to operate at scale and sustainably through its partnerships with United Nations (UN) agencies, humanitarian actors, financing institutions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and regional platforms.

As of June 2025, SASPP has allocated US$277 million to support ASP: 70 percent of funds go to national ASP investments (grant-funded programs implemented by national governments); 15 percent for technical assistance supporting effective and efficient delivery; and 15 percent for building knowledge, capacity building, and building consensus around ASP. By supporting the expansion of ASP in the Sahel, SASPP contributes to the World Bank’s target of reaching 500 million more people with social protection and employment support by 2030 (SP500 Goal).

Four donors provide financial support to SASPP: Denmark, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Their representatives guide implementation through the annual SAWAC Partnership Council and regular Technical Advisory Group meetings, fostering strong collaboration and trust.

Last Updated: Feb 28, 2026

From foundations to scale: phased support that strengthens ownership, delivery quality, and sustainability under national leadership

Since 2014, SASPPs adaptive social protection (ASP) assistance in the Sahel has evolved in phases. Phase 1 (2014-2019) helped governments establish the foundations of ASP systems in all six countries. Phase 2 (2020-2024) tested innovations and piloted new approaches, generating evidence on effective and efficient delivery systems, productive inclusion measures, and shock-response mechanisms. Phase 3 (2025-2030) is focused on scaling up programs that effectively deepen households’ productive capacity and resilience, with an emphasis on ensuring the long-term sustainability of national ASP systems and the continuity of strong impacts at scale.

Progress over the past decade shows that national ASP systems, under government leadership and with partner support, are becoming a cornerstone of national economic strategies to support the most vulnerable and promote their productive inclusion, resilience, and adaptation to climate change. SASPP has contributed to this progress by supporting four building blocks: programs, systems, institutional arrangements, and financing.

The evidence of ASPs role and achievements in creating income-generating opportunities for the poorest and most vulnerable populations is substantial. Significant work, however, remains to scale up ASP across the Sahel and beyond.

What progress has been observed in countries supported by SASPP?

1. More than US$1.2 billion in IDA resources mobilized, building on SASPP resource allocations during phase 2.
   
2. SASPP has supported robust and trusting partnerships in the region, with institutions like the Centre for Disaster Protection (CDP), CGAP, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Sahel Alliance, UNICEF, and the World Food Programme (WFP).
3. A significant increase in government financing for ASP system and programs in countries such as Mauritania and Senegal, which finance most of their programs domestically.
4. Strong national investments in social registries across the Sahel—with the number of households registered growing from 1.66 million households in 2021 to over 4.2 million in 2025.
5. Operational innovations supported by SASPP for faster responses to climate shocks—for example, delivering support faster than the traditional response to droughts in Niger and within two weeks of major floods in Senegal.
6. Large evidence-base for productive inclusion programs supported by SASPP, including impacts on household earnings, productivity, savings, and diversification as well as women’s empowerment, with women’s incomes rising by 60–100 percent within 18 months.

How can ASP be brought to scale, as part of countries’ economic strategy to drive growth and support a more resilient and inclusive job-creating future?

Providing impactful programs to the poorest 15 percent households and supporting those affected by shocks will require an estimated US$900–950 million a year for the 6 countries. That investment would reach roughly 25 million poor and vulnerable people in a typical year, in addition to refugees who rely on these systems. Securing sustained financing for this effort is challenging, but can be achieved by progressively growing domestic financing and channeling programmatic partner support through national ASP systems. Relying on existing delivery systems and predictable financing can reduce the need for more costly ad hoc responses to crises, while increasing the efficiency of interventions.

In Phase 3, SASPP focuses on supporting Sahelian countries’ expansion and sustainability of ASP through a three-pronged strategy:

1. Strengthening national ASP systems. Expanding and improving social registries, digital payment infrastructure, secure data platforms, and institutional arrangements that underpin employment, inclusion, and resilience efforts. Integrating climate adaptation and women’s empowerment into ASP policy, delivery, and system development.
2. Expanding effective and efficient programs. Testing and scaling what works for safety net, productive inclusion, and shock-responsive interventions to help households stabilize, invest, and engage in income-generating opportunities—critical in a region where livelihoods are under pressure from climate change, conflict, and other shocks.  
3. Mobilizing finance and partnerships. Promoting alignment of partners’ support—through development financing, humanitarian support, and climate funds—with national ASP systems to foster predictable programs that sustainably reinforce pathways to jobs and self-reliance.

Last Updated: Feb 28, 2026