In order to improve agricultural marketing and rural road infrastructure throughout the federation, the Federal Government is applying to the World Bank for a $500 million loan.
The money is designed to address the critical need for improved connectivity in rural Nigeria, where 92 million people do not currently have access to good roads, according to the international lender.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s final draft of the Resettlement Policy Framework for the Nigeria Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project Scale-UP included this request.
Enhancing rural access and climate resilience is the goal of the RAAMP-SU project, which will increase agricultural potential and agrarian communities’ selling opportunities. This will therefore help the people living in rural areas to have better quality of life.
The goals of the project are to fortify the institutional and financial underpinnings for the sustainable management of both state and rural road networks, as well as to improve rural access and climate resilience of communities in served rural areas.
The former Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, funded by the World Bank and the French Development Agency, was expanded upon by the RAAMP-SU program. Under the direction of the Federal Project Management Unit, the Federal Department of Rural Development of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is in charge of the project.
According to the policy document, Nigeria has a reasonably large road network, with about 194,000 kilometers of roadways. This comprises 130,000 km of registered rural roads, 30,000 km of state roads, and 34,000 km of federal roads. Approximately 0.21 kilometers of roadways per square kilometer is the road density.
“In spite of this comparatively high road density, Nigeria’s rural accessibility index—which measures the percentage of the rural population living within two kilometers of an all-weather road—stands at a pitiful 25.5%, meaning that around 92 million rural residents lack connectivity.
“Access to rural areas is especially limited in areas where the economically disadvantaged are heavily concentrated.” These elements emphasize how important it is to preserve rural road and transportation resources while also growing and improving the network of rural roads.
The RAAMP-SU project is planned to cost $600 million in total, of which 83.33% is expected to come from money provided by the World Bank.
The commitment amount for the parent project is 79% more than the $280 million that the World Bank initially committed to fund.
The Improvement of Resilient Rural Access ($387 million), Climate Resilient Asset Management ($158 million), and Institutional Strengthening and Project Management ($55 million) are the three main components of the project that will be financed.
States that are ready to take part in the initiative must have a fully operational Roads Fund and Roads Agency, complete with appointed boards and employees, as well as budgetary provisions in place for administrative expenses.
“The new project would require the States to have a fully functional Roads Fund and Roads Agency with appointed boards and staff, and provision for administrative costs made in the state budget,” the document continued. “While the eligibility for state participation under RAAMP required the drafting and placement of Road Fund and Roads Agency bills in the State house of assemblies.” Furthermore, RARAs present a chance to support women’s representation in the transportation industry.
“The funds from the RAAMP-SU will be distributed among the states in a competitive manner, taking into account a refined socioeconomic selection matrix to enhance rural access to basic services and foster food security; the readiness of the activities in terms of design; and the state’s demonstrated commitment to the efficient maintenance of the projected infrastructure, including possible co-financing from their resources.”
According to the policy framework, project operations that result in resettlement must first develop plans for compensation and resettlement.
In order to guarantee that the required procedures for relocation and compensation are in place prior to any land acquisition or access restriction, compensation and other support are anticipated to be given before displacement.
