GCA Partners with World Bank on Climate-Smart Agricultural Program in Togo
R
otterdam, Netherlands, 24 June 2025 – The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), in partnership with the World Bank under the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), is providing technical assistance to the Togo Sustainable Agricultural Transformation Program, a US $300 million, 10-year, multi-phase initiative designed to increase value addition and exports of selected agricultural value chains and improve climate resilience of smallholder farmers in cassava, maize, rice and soybean value chains o across the country.
Phase I of the Program will support strengthening the institutional framework and enabling the agribusiness environment; building resilient crop production capacity and laying the foundation for improved agriculture marketing; and facilitating access to agriculture finance in Kara, Plateaux and Savanes regions. Phase II will scale up Phase I activities to Maritime and Centrale regions and scale up investments; support value addition and agribusiness development; promote digital agriculture technologies; and mobilize private sector investment..
Togo’s farmers have been confronting increasingly erratic rainfall patterns and prolonged heatwaves, with more days exceeding 35 °C now the norm. These shifting climate conditions have undermined yields of staple crops such as maize, rice and soybean, exacerbating food insecurity and driving a sharp rise in cereal imports which climbed by 150 percent between 2019 and 2023.
GCA’s contribution to this Program include Rapid Climate Vulnerability Assessment of maize, rice and soybean value chains and a Climate Co-Benefits Assessment contributed to the design of climate-smart interventions and establishment of robust indicators to track resilience gains, paving the way for pay-as-you-go irrigation schemes, the rollout of digital climate-informed advisory services, and the distribution of drought-tolerant and early-maturing seed varieties. Complementing this,, a comprehensive market analysis on agricultural insurance was undertaken to contribute to wider discourse on policy reforms to strengthen agricultural insurance as an adaptation tool, and inform the design of specialized training manuals on agricultural insurance targeting farmers, agricultural extension officers and regulators, paving the way to scale up data-driven agricultural insurance.
To support the program, GCA collaborated with the CGIAR through a technical partnership with the Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT. Through the partnership, specific CGIAR adaptation technologies and innovations of the CGIAR are being integrated into the project. Such adaptation solutions include soybean varieties developed by IITA for resistance to drought and low soil fertility (TGX1485-1D, TGX2004-13F, and TGX2008-2F), and the AgWISE digital platform which offers weather forecasts and agronomic recommendations. )
Over the course of its 2025–2032 implementation period, the Program aims to benefit 340,000 small-scale producers including 114,000 women and 102,000 youths, as well as several thousand micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and small individual food processors and food-sale outlets. It is also expected to create approximately 72,500 direct and indirect jobs along the targeted value chain.. Institutional strengthening measures will reinforce the capacity of Togo’s Agricultural Transformation Agency and support critical policy reforms. Efforts to bolster productive and resilient value chains will focus on value addition and market access for farmers, and tailored financial products and de-risking mechanisms will be introduced to attract private sector investment in agri-enterprises.
“By integrating state-of-the-art adaptation solutions—ranging from drought-tolerant seeds to index-based insurance and digital advisory services—this Program represents a paradigm shift in how we secure Africa’s food future,” said Professor Patrick V. Verkooijen, President and CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation. “Our collaboration with the World Bank and CGIAR partners ensures that Togo’s farmers can not only withstand climate shocks but also seize new economic opportunities, fostering sustainable livelihoods and resilient rural communities.”
GCA’s technical assistance phase concludes in July 2025, culminating in a high-level workshop with the Togolese Ministry of Agriculture in Lomé on June 18–19, 2025. The event will showcase innovative adaptation solutions and finalize modalities for continued collaboration with CGIAR programmes TAAT and AICCRA.
