In Angola, the Angola Commercial Agriculture Development Project , co-financed by the World Bank and the French Agency for Development, contributed to the government economic diversification agenda by supporting the transition from subsistence to a more market-oriented, competitive agriculture sector. The project helping producers or small and medium enterprises prepare and finance agriculture investments through technical assistance, grants, and de-risking via partial credit guarantees. As of August 2023, 101 projects have been approved, equivalent to about $26 million in agriculture investment. The project funded the first partial credit guarantees scheme dedicated to the agriculture sector in Angola – an innovation for country’s agribusiness sector – mobilizing so far $6.7 million in private bank financing.
In Argentina, the Bank supported 14,630 families who benefited from better socioeconomic inclusion. Under the project, 2,409 families accessed water for human and animal consumption, also irrigation; 7,499 rural families improved their productive capacity; and over 900 families accessed infrastructure, equipment and training that improved their marketing. Based on the model of productive alliances, 2,801 families from different regions became beneficiaries by linking their production with the markets. Among the funded activities, the production of honey, orchards, forage, livestock, nuts, spices, yerba mate and tea, among others, stand out.
In Armenia, the Bank supported 285,000 people to improve livestock farming and pasture management. Under the project, over 110,000 heads of livestock – about 17% of Armenia’s total livestock – received improved animal health services. The project was closed in 2022.
In Azerbaijan, the Agricultural Competitiveness Improvement Project, which ended in 2021, helped small and medium agribusinesses raise their productivity and sales by about 60% and 70% respectively. The project supported 70% of all livestock in the country through its animal disease-control program, also invested in seed research and processing to improve seed quality and production. The project also supported the privatization program on veterinary services, and provided financial support for over 200 agricultural enterprises. The project created 3,000 new jobs in the sector.
In Benin, between 2011-2021, the Agricultural Productivity and Diversification Project facilitated the adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies for 327,503 crop producers, leading to 135,549 hectares of land cultivated with improved technologies. The project interventions resulted in increased yields from 0.45 ton to 0.81 ton for cashew; from 1.2 tons to 2.97 tons for maize, from 4.0 tons to 6.2 tons for rice, and from 50 tons to 70 tons for pineapple. The project led to significant increases of milled rice and fish output. Combined with support for crop production and processing, support to exports has led to increases in the export of cashew and pineapple.
For the past 16 years, Bolivia has been developing a strategy to improve agricultural production and marketing through the productive alliances model. This model links small rural producers with markets, and facilitates their participation in value chains, and access to technical assistance and technology for better market access. Currently, over 2,600 productive alliances have been implemented, benefiting 107,308 producer families.
In Bhutan, a Bank-supported project supports the government's efforts to reduce rural poverty and high levels of malnutrition through climate-smart agriculture. Irrigation technology and greenhouses introduced through the project have helped farmers to increase their access to local and export markets. More than 6,500 people have increased the quality and quantity of produce like rice, maize, potato, vegetables, quinoa, citrus, apples, and potatoes, as well as high-value spices such as cardamom and ginger.
In Burkina Faso, the Bank supported the Burkina Faso Livestock Sector Development Project which ran from 2017 to 2022. By project completion, beneficiaries among selected value chains increased their yield by 8.4%. Yield increase for cattle, sheep, and egg production reached 6.76%, 11.93%, and 6.50%, respectively. Sales increased by 45% exceeding the target of a 30% increase. The volume of loans granted by partner financial institutions reached $5.02 million, exceeding the original target of $4.38 million. The project reached a total of 329,000 beneficiaries, out of which 138,314 were women and 112,573 were youth.
In the Central African Republic, through the Emergency Food Security Response project, 330,000 smallholder farmers received seeds, farming tools, and training in agricultural and post-harvest techniques. The project helped farmers boost their crop production and become more resilient to climate and conflict risks. Local food production increased by 250%, from 28,000 tons in September 2022 to 73,000 tons in June 2023. Moreover, 21,006 agricultural households received training on post-harvest loss management and provided equipment, such as mobile storage units, to enhance packaging of agricultural products, leading to higher selling prices.
In China, since 2014, a Bank-supported project has helped expand climate-smart agriculture. Better water-use efficiency on 44,000 hectares of farmland and new technologies have improved soil conditions and boosted production of rice by 12% and maize by 9%. More than 29,000 farmers’ cooperatives report higher incomes and increased climate resilience.
In Colombia, since 2010, the adoption of environmentally friendly silvopastoral production systems (SPS) for over 4,100 cattle ranches has converted 100,522 hectares of degraded pastures into more productive landscapes and captured 1,565,026 tons of CO2 equivalent. In addition, almost 40,000 hectares of pastureland were transformed to SPS and 4,640 hectares into intensive Silvopastoral Production Systems (iSPS). Moreover, 4,100 direct farmers beneficiaries, of which 17% were women, were trained in SPS and iSPS, and over 21,000 farmers, technicians and producers were also trained, visited demonstration farms, and participated in workshops and events and technology brigades. A network of 116 plant nurseries were also established, which produced around 3.1 million fodder trees that were delivered to beneficiary farmers.
In Cote d’Ivoire, between 2013 and 2017, the Agriculture Sector Project boosted the productivity of 200,000 farmers and rehabilitated 6,500 kilometers of rural roads which allowed farmers to more easily bring their products to market and reduce post-harvest losses. To aid the cashew industry, the Bank also supported a research program that helped disseminate 209 genotypes of high-performing trees and establish 18 nurseries. The Bank-financed project also helped leverage $27.5 million in private investment to boost productivity on at least 26,500 hectares.
In Croatia, the Bank supported the Ministry of Agriculture in building a National Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy that connects country needs and the EU Common Agricultural Policy.
In Djibouti, the Bank supported the construction of 112 water mobilization units, which improved water access for 9,762 households. The Bank also helped introduce hydroponic agriculture to 30 beneficiaries, rehabilitated 96 hectares of irrigated farmland, and produced 14,000 seedlings.
In Ethiopia, since 2015 a project has helped 2.3 million farmers with agricultural support services, agricultural research, small-scale irrigation, and market infrastructure development. In addition, almost 600,000 livestock and aquaculture farmers have been provided with various services (animal health, feeding, breeding and commercialization) and another 425,000 pastoralists and agro-pastoralists have been supported to build livelihoods resilience in the lowlands parts of the country.
In Guinea, the World Bank helps the government's efforts to adapt and mitigate climate shocks, build a resilient food system, and promote employment for youth and women. From 2018 to 2023, through the Guinea Integrated Agricultural Development Project, local farmers increased agriculture's productivity, sustainability, and profit. To help local communities, the project disseminated innovation packages with high-yielding seeds, helped improve irrigation, trained and mentored women and youth to access funds to create jobs, and increased income for beneficiaries. The project also promoted the use of climate-smart, gender-sensitive digital technologies with local producers. The project has reached 149,000 farmers (of whom 38% are women and 30% are youth). The project’s results include a 30% increase in yield of rice and maize; a 42% increase in commodity sales; a 47,470-hectare area covered by improved technologies; over 97,000 users of improved technologies, and more than 2,000 jobs created for women and youth. It also supported the national agriculture census and helped mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing improved seeds, fertilizers, and farming kits to 40,000 vulnerable families.
In Honduras, since 2010, 12,878 small farmers, of which 27% are women, have used productive alliances to improve productivity and access to markets, which has leveraged $33.5 million in finance from commercial banks and microfinance institutions. Under the project, gross sales of producer organizations rose by 24.3%. Also, support to Honduras’ Dry Corridor Alliance, has helped 12,202 households implement food security and agricultural business plans, and improved agricultural yields, nutrition, and food diversity of project beneficiaries.
In Bihar, India, the Bihar Transformative Development Project has supported 6.2 million women through 531,825 affinity based Self Help Groups (SHGs). The project, which closed in April 2023, helped Bihar become the state with the highest number of SHGs in the country, with 12.7 million women in over 1 million SHGs. In the project areas alone, the women SHGs saved over $473.5 million and leveraged $2.3 billion from the formal financial sector. In addition, over 500,000 women SHG members were supported through market-linked value chains.
In India, the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project supported over 400,000 farm families and 1,270 businesses and over 100 of industry associations and producer organizations in improving their productivity and incomes and helping develop new marketing channels since 2017.
Since 2013, Bank support has strengthened Indonesia’s agricultural research system. Thirty-three Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology centers now have the capacity to develop improved rice, vegetable, and fruit varieties. The project has supported 161 agricultural researchers through degree programs; upgraded 58 labs and 54 research stations; and funded 1,134 research activities, including 44 international research collaboration activities.
In Jamaica, an ongoing project since 2000 is strengthening value chains. The project emphasizes on the linkages between producers/service providers and buyers, to improve economies of scale for producer organizations, small agricultural enterprises and tourism clusters, and to mainstream climate resilience. The project introduces counter-seasonal production methods and technologies such as greenhouses, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable land and water management practices, small scale productive infrastructures such as cold storage facilities, local roads, alternative energy sources, among others. Around 9,000 people will benefit directly from these investments, of which 40% will be women and 30% youths.
In Kenya, since 2016, 1.5 million farmers, where over 60% are women, have increased their productivity , climate resilience and access to markets. The digital registry (including geo tagging) of these 1.5 million farmers enables them to access agro-weather and market advisories. In addition, the Bank is facilitating partnerships between the government and 26 ag-tech support agencies which enables almost 500,000 farmers to access a range of services (inputs, financial services and markets) by leveraging digital technologies.
In Kosovo, the Bank provided 775 grants to farmers and 103 grants to agri-processors to increase production capacities and enhance market competitiveness in the livestock and horticulture sector. This was done through upgrading facilities, adopting new technologies, and introducing food safety and environmental standards. Further, support was provided for the rehabilitation of irrigation schemes covering an area of 7,750 hectares which had an impact on the production, yield, quality, and variety of products cultivated in the area.
In Madagascar, since 2016, the Bank has boosted the productivity of over 130,000 farmers. Sixty-thousand hectares of irrigated rice fields have been rehabilitated. The Bank also supported the cocoa sector through research, the development of certified seeds, and promotion of improved production and processing techniques. This allowed 4,000 cocoa producers to increase their incomes and increase production and export volumes by 50%. The Bank also financed the country’s largest land rights registration, facilitating the delivery of over 200,000 land certificates to farmers.
In Mali, the Food Security Resilience Project is distributing 15,000 metric tons of fertilizer and 4,500 tons of climate resilient seeds for over 400,000 farmers, of which 160,000 are women, in Segou, Koutiala and Sikasso. The Drylands Development Project funded activities including subprojects, agricultural infrastructure, cash transfers which benefitted over 150,000 agricultural households, equivalent to more than 1 million people, in the regions of the Sahel band, including Kayes, Koulikoro, Segou and Mopti.
In Mauritania, between 2016 and 2021, the intervention of the Sahel regional support project offered agricultural assets and services to more than 400,000 farmers/pastoralists, where nearly 30% are women. More than 1.9 million hectares of land under sustainable management practices, in addition to the construction of 133 vaccination parks and the realization of 118 water points (wells and boreholes) as well as other infrastructure of valorization and trade of animals were provided to agro-pastoralist communities. Additionally, from April 2023- June 2028, the Bank offered to support the Agriculture Development and Innovation Support Project (PADISAM) to improve land resources management and foster inclusive and sustainable commercial agriculture in selected areas of Mauritania. It is anticipated that by the end of the project, there will be 72,000 direct beneficiaries and about 5,000 Ha of land under sustainable landscape management practices.
In Moldova, since 2012, the Bank has helped more than 7,500 farmers gain access to local and regional high-value markets for fresh fruit and vegetables and boosted land productivity through the promotion of sustainable land management practices on 120,000 hectares of farmland.
In Montenegro, since 2009, the Bank has supported almost 4,000 farmers working on orchards, vineyards, livestock and aromatic plants, 224 agro-processors, and 59 farmers working on processing on-farm complying with the European Union requirements for food safety and 278 agricultural households adopting agro-environmental measures, improving their competitiveness and sustainability.
In Nepal, the Bank-supported Nepal Poverty Alleviation Fund helped small farmers and rural poor people access microcredit, assets, services, and training. Since 2004, it has created over 30,000 community organizations and had an impact on more than 900,000 households.
In Nicaragua, between 2015 and 2019, food security in 563 communities along the Caribbean Coast was enhanced, benefiting 75,000 people. Nearly 8,400 families adopted improved agricultural technology and productivity increased by 65%.
In Niger, through the Climate Smart Agriculture Support Project, the World Bank supported over 370,000 farmers, where 145,000 of whom are women. The farmers benefited from the project’s investments in small and large-scale irrigation, improved climate-smart agriculture, and sustainable land management practices. Over 154,000 hectares of land were developed with sustainable land management practices, and 4,400 hectares of cropland were brought under irrigation. In collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics and FAO, the project promoted good agriculture practices through farmer led e-extension services and technical assistance. The project investments led to significant increases in agriculture productivity: yields of cowpea, millet, and sorghum increased by 169, 164, and 142 percent, respectively. The project also strengthened the national climate information system by building the capacity of the National Meteorology Department (the project installed 30 meteorological stations and 600 rain gauges). Through its support to the Sahel Regional Center for Hydro and Agrometeorology, the project strengthened the early warning systems of national institutes such as National Meteorology and the National Hydrology Directorate.
In Nigeria, APPEALS Project was designed to enhance agricultural productivity of small and medium scale farmers and improve value addition along priority value chains. Since 2017, the project has demonstrated 204 improved technologies to 93,0009 farmers and continued to contribute to the national food basket across 11 value chains. Food crop production has surged, with 304,516 metric tons produced, representing 3.1% of the national output. Furthermore, the project has reached 61,171 farmers with processing assets to improve the quality of their produce. The project also trained 10,346 women and youth, including persons with disability, providing them with business, technical and life skills training, support to business planning and facilitation of business name registration, start-up grant to establish a commercially viable business, and mentorship to provide the beneficiaries with continued support from established agribusiness entrepreneurs. The project linked farmers to market through the facilitation of commercial partnerships resulting in a total of 327 business alliances with 147 off-takers already buying farmers’ produce across the 11 value chains, with a transaction worth of US$ 59.7 million. Similarly, the project has linked 200 agribusiness clusters to infrastructures which includes 55km rural farm access road, 75 aggregation and cottage processing centers, 102 solar-powered water intervention and energy supplies.
In Pakistan, in 2022, in response to the flood’s emergency, about 230,000 smallholder farmers received cash transfer support to winter cropping, more than 500 watercourses damaged by the floods were rehabilitated, 27,000 tents and 2.2 million mosquito nets were purchased. Women were provided with poultry and small ruminants restocking, tunnel farming as well as kitchen garden kits.
In Paraguay, since 2008, 20,863 farmers increased their agricultural income by at least 30% and 18,951 adopted improved agricultural practices, boosting the productivity of their land.
In Peru, since 2013, nearly 600 agricultural innovations have been identified and tested with the help of competitive matching grants. More than 110 of these innovations have been validated at the farm level, and as of September 2020, one or more of them have been adopted by nearly 32,000 producers.
In the Philippines, since 2015, the Bank helped raise rural incomes, enhance farm and fishery productivity, improve market access and mainstream institutional and operational reforms, as well as science-based planning for agricultural commodities in 81 provinces. The project has benefitted a total of 323,501 people–46% of them women–with farm roads, irrigation, and agricultural enterprise projects, boosting incomes by up to 36%.
In Rwanda, since 2010, the Bank helped support more than 410,000 farmers – half are women – in improving their agricultural production by developing over 7,400 hectares for marshland irrigation, providing hillside irrigation on over 2,500 hectares, and several hundreds of farmers benefitted matching grants to support their investments in Farmer-Led Irrigation Development (FLID) technologies on over 1,200 hectares of their land. Interventions also included improving soil conservation and erosion on more than 39,000 hectares of hillside. Maize, rice, beans, and potato yields have all more than doubled and around 2.5 tons of vegetables are exported to Europe and the Middle-East every week from intervention areas, or locally, where more horticulture produce is sold to premium markets including 5-star hotels or the national airline, RwandAir. Less than two years after one of the Bank supported projects introduced greenhouse farming in its intervention areas to minimize the impacts of unfavorable weather conditions and better manage crop pests and diseases, by 2023, the demand for these technologies has seen a rapid increase in these areas and 132 units have been acquired and installed through the matching grants program under the project. Evidence shows relatively high revenues for farmers investing in greenhouse technology, with revenues increasing up to 15 times for vegetable growers.
In Tajikistan, the Bank supported the establishment of 545 farmer groups in horticulture value chains, specifically apricot, apple, pear, lemon, cucumber, and tomato, and dairy value chain benefiting a total of 13,516 farmers out of which 48% were women. The Bank also supported the establishment of 342 productive partnerships benefitting 4,340 smallholder farmers. A total of 21,882 beneficiaries achieved an increase in commercial activity. The project supported training for 13, 516 farmers, on value chain development.
In Tunisia, the Bank helped 113 remote rural villages improve land management practices on 37,000 hectares of land to increase productivity and improve 930 kilometers of rural roads serving some 160 villages.
In Uruguay, since 2014, climate-smart agriculture techniques have been adopted on 2.7 million hectares and adopted by 5,541 farmers, providing for a carbon sequestration potential of up to 9 million tons of CO2 annually.
In Uganda, since 2015, the Agriculture Cluster Development Project’s e-voucher scheme has leveraged over $12 million of farmer investments enabling over 450,000 farm households access and use improved agro-inputs resulting in higher farm yields. Provision of matching grants has enhanced storage capacity by 55,000MT, acquiring value addition equipment and machinery thereby facilitating Producer Organizations to add value and undertake collective marketing. Additional infrastructure support addressing road chokes has also led to improved market access.
The Bank has also made investments into strengthening regulatory and administrative functions of the Ministry of Agriculture through the development of IT Platforms and tools facilitating timely planning and decision making.
In the Uganda Multi-Sectoral Food and Nutrition Security Project, the Bank has supported enhanced knowledge on nutrition resulting in improved household nutrition and incomes for 1.55 million direct project beneficiaries.
In Uzbekistan, the Horticulture Development Project has helped create, 34,520 jobs, including 13,124 for women; increase beneficiary productivity by 24% and profitability by 124%, including through entry into new export markets. The Livestock Sector Development Project supported a sub-loans benefitting a total of 560 large scale commercial livestock farmers, and a total of 135 value chain development projects benefiting 1,456 smallholder farmers (Dekhans). As a result of the project support, the share of improved and high yielding livestock breeds increased by 98.7%; thereby increasing milk and meat productivity by 33% and 38% respectively. A total of 3,659 livestock farmers acquired agricultural assets. In addition, the project created a total of 21,698 new jobs.
In Vietnam, since 2010, the Bank has promoted sustainable livelihoods by helping develop 9,000 “common interest groups” comprising over 15,500 households and partnering them with agricultural enterprises. The Bank also helped over 20,000 farmers improve their livestock production and benefited an additional 130,000 people through capacity building in food safety.
Under the West African Agricultural Productivity Program, the Bank supported a research and development effort that promoted technology generation, dissemination, and support to local farming systems in 13 ECOWAS countries. The project reached over 2.7 million beneficiaries, 41% of whom were women. It also generated 112 technologies that reached over 1,850,000 hectares.
Last Updated: Sep 25, 2023