VZCZCXYZ0010
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUJA #0029/01 0111158
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111158Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7994
INFO RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS PRIORITY 2644

UNCLAS ABUJA 000029 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AFR, EEB PASS TO MARISA PLOWEDEN (C), GARY CLEMENTS AND 
GEOFFREY SPENCER (EEB/TPP/ABT) 
DEPT PASS TO USAID AFR/AA, AFR/SD, DCHA/PPM 
USAID FOR DATWOOD AFR/SD, JHILL AFR/SD/EGEA, SBRADLEY OFDA 
FAS/USDA FOR KIM SVEC OFSO, PATRICIA SHEIKH OCBD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAGR EFIN ETRD NI IZ
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: PROGRESS REPORT ON THE GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY 
RESPONSE 
 
SUBJECT:  NIGERIA FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM 
 
REF: STATE 124059 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: In response to President Obama's Global Hunger and 
Food Security Initiative and G-8 members pledge of $20 billion for a 
worldwide initiative to address food security, the USG has prepared 
a two-year $32.75 million FY 2010 Global Hunger and Food Security 
Initiative entitled, "The Agriculture Transformation Program (ATP) 
for Nigeria." The ATP is phase one of a four year Global Hunger and 
Food Security (GHFS) program.  ATP expands USAID's FY 2009 Global 
Food Security Response Program and supports the Government of 
Nigeria (GON) to implement the Comprehensive African Agriculture 
Development Program (CAADP). END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) The ATP's Goals and Key Results are: 
 
INCREASE AGRICULTURE PRODUCTIVITY and incomes of 2,200,000 
additional poor farmers achieve $350 million sales (at least 35 
percent women) by 
--Expanding market supply of essential foods by 900,000 tons per 
year; 
--Creating 250,000 new jobs; 
--Increasing yields of rice, sorghum, cowpeas, cassava, maize, and 
aquaculture by 50-75 percent; 
--Leveraging $150 million public and private funds for agriculture. 
 
REDUCE TRADE AND TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS by 
--Improving the trade policy environment; 
--Increasing trade along improved roads; 
--Improving trade corridor operations; 
--rehabilitating and/or building 1,200 kms of rural roads with other 
partners. 
 
 
IMPROVE SOUND MARKET BASED PRINCIPLES by 
--Improving the GON policy environment and build capacity for 
agricultural development and trade in the framework of CAADP; 
--Training 1,000 GON officials in a USG private sector model; 
--Revising the agriculture strategy under CAADP; 
--Promoting data collection and analysis to support policy 
decisions. 
 
ACCELERATE THE PARTICIPATION OF THE VERY POOR AND IMPROVE NUTRITION 
by 
--Developing a program to address the very poor; 
--Designing a nutrition program for two states. 
 
¶3. (U) ATP will assist Nigeria to reach the Millennium Development 
Goal goals of a) Accelerating the GON's efforts to eradicate extreme 
poverty and hunger; b) Increasing agriculture-driven growth by 10 
percent, leading to 30 percent higher incomes by 2013; and c) 
increasing the benefits to, and income of, women.  It will also help 
the GON to establish a sound enabling environment; develop a 
bankable CAADP investment plan; be able to implement a larger USG 
program; and allocate at least 10 percent of the federal budget to 
agriculture. 
 
 
------------------------------------- 
COUNTRY-LED PLANNING 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) ATP fully supports country-led plans for agriculture, 
supports strategic coordination within the USG, and fosters 
collaboration with partners such as the World Bank, AfDB, the UK 
Department for International Development (DFID), other donors, and 
regional organizations. 
 
¶6. (U) The GON priorities are the 7 Point Agenda and Vision 20:2020, 
which includes a "Sustainable Agricultural Development and Market 
Access program." The Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources' 
(MAWR) 5-Point Plan to improve agricultural investments are: 
--Reform of Agricultural Policy and Regulatory Systems; 
--Agriculture Commodity Exchange Market (ACCOMEX) to establish an 
agricultural commodity exchange market; 
--Raise Agricultural Income with Sustainable Environment (RAISE) 
Q--Raise Agricultural Income with Sustainable Environment (RAISE) 
commencing with 400 sites; 
--Maximize Agricultural Revenue in Key Enterprises to improve 
competitiveness of value-added products, leading to increased market 
share through private-sector led and market driven growth; and 
--Water, Aquaculture, and Environment Resource Management to 
intensify aquaculture. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
PARTNERSHIP PLAN AND COORDINATION 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7. (U) The USG program will support GON linkages to the Global Donor 
Partnership for Agriculture Food Security and leverage GON, 
multilateral partners, and private sector resources. ATP will expand 
public-private partnerships, and collaborate closely with the GON's 
federal and state investments in agriculture. USAID collaborates 
with the Embassy Economic (ECON) section, Foreign Agriculture 
Service (FAS) Lagos, Foreign Commercial Service (FCS) Lagos, USAID 
West Africa, and Post's PEPFAR team. The US Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) will receive ATP funds for key programs in 
government-to-government capacity building in policy and 
institutional development. USAID will seek to expand the role of US 
federal agencies as appropriate. The U.S. Embassy ECON, FAS, and FCS 
will play a key role in policy dialogue on trade policy, including 
support for the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. The U.S. 
Mission will underscore significant milestones in this food security 
program with high-profile or ceremonial public events, wherein the 
Ambassador or a senior designee will play a central role.  The 
Embassy's Public Affairs Section will support such programs with 
appropriate publicity in coordination with USAID. 
¶8. (U) USAID is coordinating the ATP design with the MAWR, Commerce 
and Industry (MCI), Transportation (MOT), and Finance (MOF, which 
oversees the National Customs Service). The USG team is aligning its 
program with the CAADP compact, and the new MAWR 5-Point Plan. USAID 
will support a CAADP secretariat to foster communication and 
coordination. 
¶9. (U) USAID reactivated and is chairing the Agricultural Donor 
Working Group (ADWG) to increase policy dialogue with the GON, and 
foster collaboration. By agreeing to a single joint framework 
internationally (CAADP) and at the country level, partners will 
strengthen development effectiveness. Partners include the African 
Union New Economic Partnership for Africa's Development Nigeria, 
Food and Agriculture Organization, other U.N. institutions, and the 
European Union. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
CORE INVESTMENT AREAS 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (U) ATP consists of four projects: 1) Increase Agricultural 
Productivity, 2) Reduce Trade and Transportation Barriers, 3) 
Improve Sound Market-Based Principles for Agriculture Growth, and 4) 
Accelerate the Participation of the Very Poor in Economic 
Activities. 
 
Increase Agricultural Productivity 
 
¶11. (U) Increasing agricultural productivity will be achieved 
through investments in private sector value chain development, 
deployment of technology, significant expansion of the value-added 
agro-processing businesses, and expanded lending to agriculture by 
Nigerian banks and financial investors. Agro-processors are central 
to the value chain and sector development. Agro-processors guarantee 
farmers a market for their produce. Financial institutions are more 
willing to provide credit to farmers to purchase inputs when the 
farmers have a commercial relationship with an agro processor. 
 
¶12. (U) ATP will assist 750,000 farmers to improve the quantity and 
quality of staple commodities (rice, sorghum, cowpea, cassava, 
maize, aquaculture, and sesame) in the market and substitute 
domestically grown produce for imported produce. ATP will expand on 
Qdomestically grown produce for imported produce. ATP will expand on 
the highly successful work through the USAID Maximizing Agriculture 
Revenues in Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites (MARKETS) Program, 
which doubled the income of nearly 350,000 participant farmers. 
 
¶13. (U) Key sub components of this project include a) increase 
Access to Agricultural Inputs and Farm Equipment to improve private 
sector distribution, and formation of major seed and fertilizer 
alliances will increase the supply of quality seed, fertilizer, and 
other inputs to millions of small-holder farmers and stimulate 
productivity increases, b) expand Private Sector Agro-processing 
Capacity by assisting agribusinesses to expand and diversify their 
final product and supply chains, increase private sector business 
growth, and establish private sector and government standards for 
quality control and grading. ATP will cooperate with the Foreign 
Commercial Service to expand business-to-business linkages with U.S. 
companies. 
 
¶15. (U) Additional key elements are: c) Improve Water Management and 
Natural Resources: ATP will rehabilitate several key irrigation 
systems, and train thousands of farmers in improved water in 
collaboration with the GON, the World Bank, and other donors, d) 
Improve Post-Harvest Storage of Cereals in which USDA will assist 
the GON to design and manage silos and warehouses to store surplus 
agriculture grains following harvest, based on private sector 
 
management practices, e) Increase Access to Financing: ATP will 
ensure that women farmers and agro-processors gain greater access to 
finance. ATP will improve commercial banks' knowledge about 
agricultural investment opportunities, increase their use of 
existing loan guarantees, and assist banks to provide more 
information to borrowers about their financial instruments.  The 
U.S. Embassy in partnership with the Bank of Industry is encouraging 
increased lending by private Nigerian banks to the agricultural 
sector and will work with USG institutions to expand this 
partnership. 
 
¶18. (U) Extension service and cooperatives: USDA will develop the 
public sector agricultural extension services while USAID will work 
with private companies. USDA will assist the GON to expand the 
number of, and improve the capabilities of, agricultural 
cooperatives. 
 
 
Reduce Trade and Transportation Barriers 
 
¶19. (U) ATP will assist the GON to develop and use cost recovery 
mechanisms to ensure sustainable road maintenance. Critical partners 
include federal and state governments, the World Bank, the AfDB, and 
the private sector. A major focus will be to remove trade 
bottlenecks at the Port of Lagos and improve transportation corridor 
management along the Lagos-Maradi, Republic of Niger and 
Lagos-Cotonou, Benin roads. In 2010, USAID will explore establishing 
a trust fund with the World Bank and the AfDB to accelerate the 
implementation of their loans to the GON that will rehabilitate or 
construct farm-to-market feeder roads. 
 
¶20. (U) ATP will work with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and 
support the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) 
regional integration agenda, in line with efforts to implement joint 
border posts and single windows for trade facilitation. USAID will 
assist the GON to complete, disseminate, and implement new policy 
standards, and build capacity of the NCS to implement modern customs 
techniques. 
 
¶21. (U) USAID will build the capacity of the MCI and MOF and private 
think tanks/universities to address trade policies, including 
expanding on the draft GON trade and industrial policy that provides 
for a better enabling environment for investors. Trade policy reform 
programs are coordinated with new European Commission, DfID, and 
USAID West Africa programs with ECOWAS. 
 
IMPROVE SOUND MARKET-BASED PRINCIPLES 
 
¶22. (U) USAID will finance the International Food Policy Research 
Institute (IFPRI) to help Nigeria set priorities for spending on 
agriculture and rural development for poverty alleviation. IFPRI 
will build the capacity of the MAWR to undertake agricultural policy 
research and support the Strategic Analysis Knowledge Support System 
(SAKSS) process in Nigeria. USAID will fund a CAADP secretariat to 
promote information exchange and CAADP implementation. 
 
 
¶23. (U) The USG will build the capacity of MAWR to establish a 
strong monitoring and evaluation system, undertake a national 
agricultural census, strengthen information systems, and conduct 
short-term action research on agricultural policy. USDA will improve 
agricultural statistics and information systems and promote use of 
biotechnology, food safety, and other agricultural policy 
formulation. 
 
Accelerate the Participation of the Very Poor in Economic 
Activities 
 
¶24. (U) ATP will examine ways to: 1) assist the very poor to move 
Q24. (U) ATP will examine ways to: 1) assist the very poor to move 
from subsistence agriculture to more commercial links to the market; 
2) improve incomes of women, who are weakly integrated into the 
mainstream economy; 3) identify means to reduce malnutrition in the 
rural poor, particularly in northern Nigeria; and 4) assist the GON 
to identify means for Nigerian farmers to adapt to climate change. 
 
¶26. (U) Assist the Very Poor: USAID will form a partnership with the 
GON-World Bank Fadama III Program (Fadama) to reach a greater 
percentage of the very poor and expand efforts in MARKETS II to 
integrate the poor into key value chains. USAID plans to undertake 
activities with Fadama in Bauchi and Sokoto, which are USAID focus 
states for health, education, and democracy. 
 
¶27. (U) Increase Women's Income: Under ATP, USAID will expand work 
that started under USAID MARKETS to reach 66,000 women and increase 
the number of women participating in MARKETS II. ATP will expand its 
focus to create more off-farm employment for landless women, and for 
 
those living on small plots of marginal lands. 
 
¶28. (U) Reduce Malnutrition: Over 10 million rural poor are faced 
with malnourishment. ATP will address the root causes of hunger and 
malnourishment by linking rural families to Nigeria's economy and by 
providing the means to purchase better food. In FY 2010, the USG 
team will develop a nutrition program that can be implemented with 
anticipated FY 2011 resources. 
 
¶29. (U) Adapt to Climate Change: ATP will build the capacity of the 
GON to develop adaptive measures to respond to climate change in 
data gathering; modeling; remote sensing and analysis; and adaptive 
research on cropping systems, integrated resource management, 
policy, and water resource management. 
 
------------------------------ 
CAPACITY BUILDING 
----------------------------- 
¶30. (U) USAID will build the capacity of the GON, the private 
sector, and civil society to implement a scaled-up food security 
program. The Capacity Building Plan will strengthen skills of 50-100 
individuals to support CAADP. The USG will expand its current 
capacity building of key GON organizations, e.g., MAWR, the 
Ministries of Commerce and Industry; Transportation (MOT); and the 
Nigerian Customs Service.  Capacity of MAWR will focus on strategic 
and investment planning, market development, rural road 
construction, and agricultural census. Assistance for the MOT will 
improve transportation corridor management, and port administration 
in Lagos. 
 
 
¶31. (U) Private sector strengthening will expand to assist agro 
processor, small- and medium-scale farmers (particularly women), 
associations, cooperatives, shippers, transporters, and banks. 
 
------------------------------- 
MANAGEMENT PLAN 
------------------------------ 
¶34. (U) The USAID Mission Director will provide overall management 
of the GHFS Initiative in Nigeria. The Director will convene 
quarterly meetings of a USG GHFS Working Group to share information 
about the overall USG, GON, and donor policy and programming. 
Participants will include the U.S. Embassy ECON, FAS Lagos, FCS 
Lagos, USAID West Africa, and the PEPFAR team. The USG GHFS Working 
Group will brief the Ambassador, the Consul General, Lagos, and 
stakeholders. 
 
¶35. (U) Monitoring and evaluation are an integral part of GHFS 
Initiative. Scaling up in 2011 will be influenced by performance 
data and other analytical information collected from FY 2009 and FY 
¶2010. ATP will use standard harmonized indicators with other donors 
under CAADP. Mission management will periodically review progress 
through formal Annual Performance Plan and Reports, and special 
reporting required for GHFS. 
 
¶36. (U) Staffing Requirements: The new staffing level is an estimate 
of needs if the FY 2011 budget is increased significantly. These 
requirements will be reviewed in conjunction with a mission wide 
review of overall staffing needs. 
 
Current staff 
--Office Director USDH (OE funded rotation 2010) 
--Deputy Director USDH 
--Senior Agricultural Specialist (FSN) 
--Senior Agriculture Specialist (FSN) 
--Agriculture Business Specialist (FSN) 
--Trade and Investment Advisor (PASA) 
--EGE Office manager (FSN). 
 
New Core Staffing 
--Senior Agriculture Specialist (TBD) 
--Agriculture CAADP Coordinator (TBD) 
--Agriculture Finance Specialist (FSN) 
--Rural Road Infrastructure Engineer (FSN). 
 
New support staff 
QNew support staff 
--EGE Program assistant (FSN) 
--Program officer (FSN) 
--Acquisition and assistance specialist (FSN) 
--Financial analyst (FSN) 
--Voucher examiner (FSN). 
 
¶37. (U) Budget and Obligation Plan 
 
Budget Allocation of $32.75 million FY 2010 to Core Investment Areas 
 
 
Core Areas         Total   GHFS 
 
Increasing Agriculture 
Productivity      $21.75 m* $20.25 m 
Reducing Trade & 
 Transportation Barriers   $ 5.25 m** $ 3.0 m 
Improving Sound Market-Based 
  Principles      $ 5.0 m  $ 5.0 m 
Accelerating the Participation 
  Of the Very Poor    $  0.75 m  $ 0.75 m 
*includes $1.5 million Micro Enterprise earmark 
**Total includes $2.25 m trade initiative funds 
A budget against Foreign Assistance Framework is available as 
needed. 
 
SANDERS