According to the Bank’s website, in January 2023, the heads of state of 34 African countries gathered in Dakar for a summit jointly organized by the African Union (AU) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) on the theme "Feeding Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience." The Dakar Declaration issued at the Summit was endorsed by a resolution of the 36th AU Summit held in February 2023, in which the Heads of State committed to (i) sustainably increase the production and productivity of agricultural value chains prioritized for achieving food sovereignty, as defined in the Food and Agriculture Compacts presented by the Heads of State, and (ii) strengthen access to public and private financing for food and agriculture. achieving food sovereignty as defined in the Food and Agriculture Compacts presented by the Heads of State, (ii) strengthening access to public and development partner financing, carrying out reforms conducive to private sector investment, and (iii) ensuring the implementation of the Compacts under the auspices of National Presidential Councils according to an established timetable. The review of the Compacts revealed that rice was unanimously recognized by Heads of State as a major strategic commodity for their food sovereignty. In this regard, REWARD is one of the Bank's flagship operational responses to financing the Compacts of West African countries. 

The main objective of the project is to strengthen food security and sovereignty in West Africa by promoting public and private investment in rice value chains (RVCs) to increase rice self-sufficiency and reduce the region's import bill by 2030. The choice of the project intervention area is justified by the country's desire to rehabilitate all rice production sites to ensure local rice self-sufficiency and reduce the production gap at the national level. In addition, the Yabra site has already been studied as part of the 2PAI-Belier project, and the Sakassou site requires strong support in implementation to reach its maximum production potential.

Environmental Category: [1] High Risk

According to the Appraisal Report, REWARD-CI is classified as a “High Risk” project. This corresponds to category 1 in the Bank's Integrated Safeguards System (ISS).

The main E&S risks are: i) drowning and work-related accidents during construction; (ii) increased prevalence of water-related diseases (malaria, bilharzia); (iii) conflict between site personnel and the local population and between users (farmers and stockbreeders) of the water resource; (iv) increased pressure on surface water resources; (v) water and soil pollution in the event of accidental spills of hazardous and noxious liquid products (hydrocarbons, used oils, etc.) and improper use of phytosanitary products and agricultural inputs, downstream flooding in the event of dam failure. The main E&S impacts are: (i) loss of 5,000 trees and shrubs in the perimeter right-of-way and borrow areas over a total area of 8.7 ha; and (ii) loss of 9.25 ha of rice crops and source of income for four (4) PAPs.

Involuntary Resettlement: The project activities will affect four (4) PAPs for crop loss covering 9.25 ha of agricultural land. In addition, the borrower is obliged to ensure that the current owners/farmers of the land to be rehabilitated will not be displaced or deprived of their plots once the rehabilitation works have been completed.

The Project will be financed by: (i) ADF resources (ADF loan and OR loan) in the amount of 14 million UC (86.74%), broken down as follows: ADF loan (7.000 million UC) and OR loan (7.000 million UC); and (ii) the Ivorian government, for 2.14 million UC (13.26%).

Finance Type: Standard loan
Commitments (UA): 14,000,000
Conversion Rate USD (2025-04-21): 1,32328

Name: Morou MOUSSA
Email: m.o.moussa@afdb.org

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/request-for-documents. Under the AfDBÕs Disclosure and Access to Information policy, if you feel the Bank has omitted to publish information or your request for information is unreasonably denied, you can file an appeal at https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/appeals-process.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF AfDB

The Independent Review Mechanism (IRM), which is administered by the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (CRMU), is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an African Development Bank (AfDB)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the IRM, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a dispute resolution dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the AfDB complied with its policies to prevent environmental and social harms. You can submit a complaint electronically by emailing crmuinfo@afdb.org, b.kargougou@afdb.org, b.fall@afdb.org, and/or s.toure@afdb.org. You can learn more about the IRM and how to file a complaint at: https://www.afdb.org/en/independent-review-mechanism/