The World Bank Group is ramping up efforts to tackle food insecurity and unemployment in Africa with a new $46 million financing package aimed at scaling agricultural innovation and unlocking jobs across six countries, including Ghana.
The fourth phase of the West Africa Food System Resilience Program (FSRP4), implemented under the Accelerating Innovation and Catalyzing Capacity for Resilience in Africa (AICCRA) initiative, is designed to bridge the long-standing gap between agricultural research and on-the-ground productivity, one of the continent’s most persistent structural constraints.
Funded through concessional resources from the International Development Association and other global trust funds, the programme will be executed by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in partnership with leading CGIAR research centres.
At the core of the intervention is a push to move proven innovations out of research pipelines and into widespread use. The programme will scale technologies such as drought-tolerant crop varieties, solar-powered irrigation systems and digital climate advisory platforms, with more than 250,000 farmers expected to adopt climate-smart solutions.
In total, over 1.5 million farmers and food system actors across Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Senegal and Zambia are projected to benefit, with spillover effects anticipated across the region.
Beyond productivity gains, the initiative places significant emphasis on job creation reflecting a growing policy shift that positions agriculture not only as a food security priority but as a major employment engine. Agriculture currently accounts for more than half of Africa’s workforce, yet remains characterised by low productivity and limited value addition.
To address this, the programme will support 150 agribusiness and agri-tech ventures, establish or strengthen 25 incubators and accelerators, and mobilise an estimated $16.5 million in private capital. The goal is to stimulate entrepreneurship and create sustainable jobs along the agricultural value chain, particularly for young people and women.
“Job creation is a core pillar of this initiative,” said Chakib Jenane, noting that scaling innovation would enhance productivity and resilience while improving competitiveness in Africa’s food systems.
A defining feature of the programme is its regional delivery model, which leverages cross-border institutions such as CORAF and AGRHYMET to accelerate the transfer of innovations and avoid duplication.
“Climate risks, pests and markets do not stop at borders,” said Marina Wes, underscoring the need for coordinated, region-wide solutions.
The new phase builds on earlier FSRP interventions that have already reached nearly 3 million beneficiaries and contributed to measurable reductions in food insecurity in targeted areas. It also introduces a stronger focus on digital agriculture, data systems and soil intelligence to support more precise, climate-informed decision-making.
For Ghana and its peers, the programme signals a deepening alignment between climate resilience, agricultural transformation and job creation, an approach that could prove critical as countries confront rising climate shocks, youth unemployment and pressure on food systems.
However, the effectiveness of the initiative will hinge on execution particularly the ability to translate innovation into adoption, mobilise private sector participation at scale, and ensure that smallholder farmers can access and sustain the new technologies being deployed.
