Nigeria - Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (English)

Ratings for the Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project for Nigeria were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, the Bank performance was satisfactory, and the monitoring and evaluation quality was substantial. Some lessons learned included: early and continued engagement with the State Government on World Bank policies and regulations can help reduce delays. Limited familiarity with Bank procedures led to implementation delays in Kaduna, Enugu, and Cross River Sates. Success in high performance states (such as Kano, Lagos and Kogi), can be attributed to strong government support and flexibility to implement the Project in accordance with Bank regulations and guidelines. Communicating these guidelines to state governments at preliminary stages of project preparation and throughout implementation can ensure seamless implementation. Stakeholder collaboration and partnerships at all levels (government, non-governmental organizations, research entities, private sector, etc.) can be effective ways of developing value chains. The project fostered fruitful collaborative arrangements with several research institutions and extension agencies for the generation and dissemination of appropriate technologies, as well as with private sector service providers, input suppliers, and off-takers. Some beneficiaries leveraged additional financial resources from the private sector through such business alliances. All these structures and collaborative arrangements greatly facilitated project implementation.