Results
Projects in Senegal:
- Over 350,000 farmers (45 percent women) received tools and support services (2020–2025).
- Small‑ruminant (sheep and goat) mortality fell by 13 percent in 2024, and maize yields reached 3 tons per hectare in 2025.
- Over 835,000 farmers and breeders gained index‑based agricultural insurance coverage against drought and rainfall shocks (in 2025).
Projects in The Gambia:
- Beneficiary sales increased by 78 percent since project start and over 53,000 farmers adopted climate‑smart practices and received tools and support services (2025).
- Over 1,000 tons of improved rice and maize seed were distributed to more than 57,000 farmers (66 percent women, 23 percent youth) through a digitally managed distribution platform, alongside 15,000 tons of subsidized fertilizer (2025).
- The matching‑grant program supported over 400 agribusinesses (including 19 SMEs and 74 cooperatives), with four digital platforms in use (2022–2025).
Projects in Guinea:
- Approximately 15,000 jobs were created (about 5,000 for women) and nearly 50,000 rural households gained new income opportunities; 600 tons of fonio were exported to Europe (2021-2024).
Development Challenge
Across Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea, agriculture and agribusiness competitiveness are constrained by low on‑farm productivity and limited access to quality inputs and irrigation; weak farmer organizations and support institutions; gaps in post‑harvest handling, logistics, and market infrastructure that restrict market access and exports; inadequate food safety and quality systems (including the absence of an accredited laboratory in Guinea); an uneven investment and business environment; limited access to finance for agribusinesses; and mounting climate risks to crops and livestock. Together, these factors reduce rural incomes and slow economic growth.
World Bank Group Approach
Senegal: With WBG and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) financing, the program raised farm productivity and improved market access by expanding access to quality seeds, livestock services, and tools to manage climate risks. By linking financing to results, it helped raise seed production, increase vaccinations, and decrease livestock losses. It strengthened markets; a regulator for the Warehouse Receipt System was created and 100 warehouses were approved. A new index-based insurance scheme protects farmers and breeders against drought and poor rainfall.
Gambia: The project aims to transform agriculture and the rural economy, creating jobs, raising incomes, expanding trade, and reducing food insecurity. It builds on progress from other partner-supported operations (Agence Française de Développement (AFD), African Development Bank, European Union, Food and Agriculture Organization, Islamic Development Bank, and International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Guinea: Matching grants help integrate smallholders into value chains. IFC-World Bank support attracted private investments and established Fonds de Garanties des Prêts aux Entreprises Guarantees Funds for Enterprises Loans, FGPE) in 2023.
Contribution to World Bank Group Targets and Jobs
These operations align with the WBG’s AgriConnect Initiative, which aims to create jobs across agrifood value chains by supporting 300 million farmers and the enterprises that connect them.
Across Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea, these operations are strengthening agriculture as a source of jobs and income. In Guinea, approximately 15,000 jobs were created, including 5,000 for women, while nearly 50,000 rural households gained new income opportunities. In The Gambia, matching grants supported over 400 agribusinesses creating over 1,000 jobs annually and mobilizing US$11.1 million in investment, including US$3.5 million in private capital. New women-and-youth-led agribusiness farms will create better jobs for over 2,000 youth and women. In Senegal, about 350,000 farmers (45 percent women), received farming tools and services, and over 835,000 farmers and breeders gained insurance coverage to protect their livelihoods.
Beneficiary Quotes
Lessons Learned
The Program-for-Results (PforR) approach can drive impactful development and needed structural reforms when there are strong country ownership and political will. It also helps advance long-needed reforms for agricultural transformation.
Transparent, competitive matching-grant program targeting priority value chains can rapidly scale productive investments. By linking farmers, cooperatives, SMEs, and banks, it is possible to boost production and productivity, raise incomes, create jobs, strengthen food security, and mobilize private capital.
To attract large-scale agribusiness, the private sector must be fully engaged. MIGA’s political risk insurance and WBG guarantees can help reduce investor exposure while supporting stronger infrastructure and institutions. Success depends on reducing uncertainty, building reliable infrastructure (roads, storage), enforcing clear regulations and standards; and strengthening institutions to cut losses, build trust, and crowd in private investment.
Next Steps
In Senegal, the on-going West Africa Food System Resilience Program (FSRP-Senegal) and the AgriConnect program under preparation are building on the achievements made to support smallholders as well as small and medium enterprises and connect them through structured agricultural value chains. These interventions are also investing in stronger agricultural innovation systems, irrigation for more climate-smart agriculture, and better access to finance through matching grants, expanded agricultural insurance, and MIGA-backed trade finance guarantees. Overall, these interventions are expected to reduce food insecurity by 25 percent, finance 1,400 private investment projects for smallholders and 15 for SMEs and create 800,000 jobs.
Recent gains are improving The Gambia’s food security in poultry and onions. For the first time in its history, the country has imposed a temporary export ban to prioritize domestic marketing of increased production. Two logistics centers are being built to strengthen marketing through cold and dry storage facilities that will help stabilize market supply. In addition, the matching grant scheme—supporting 500 smallholders, 100 farmers’ organizations, and 19 SMEs—is driving sector transformation and will be expanded under a new operation. The 40 women-and-youth led agribusiness farms equipped with modern irrigation will be a game changer in maintaining and attracting youth in the agribusiness sector providing them with remunerative incomes. These are scalable solutions that AgriConnect will build to advance the job agenda.
In Guinea, the WBG and Rio Tinto are piloting out grower programs that blend grants, capital expenditures, and technical assistance, aimed at biosecurity and reliable supply. The pilot is expected to generate 400 direct and 200 indirect jobs.