| Project Detail |
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
A. Project Components
Project Component Summary
19. The project has three distinct components. The project will also have a “zero cost” component
(Component D: Contingent Emergency Response) to address emergency requests from the Government
in the case of any natural disaster events. Table 8 of Annex 1 provides component activity details.
a. Component A. Improvement of Rural Access and Trading Infrastructure. The component will have
two sub-components: (i) A.1 Major Civil Works: upgrading of rural roads and the construction of
short-span (largely up to clear span of 15 meters6
) cross-drainage structures (culverts/bridges) on
rural roads, and the physical improvement of the existing agro-logistics centers (rural markets);
and (ii) A.2 Consultancies and Supervision: technical assistance (TA) support to the planning,
design, implementation and supervision and consultancy costs linked to the civil works.
b. Component B. Asset Management, Agro-logistics Performance Enhancement and Sector Reform.
This component comprises three sub-components: (i) B.1 Other Civil Works. Support the
maintenance and spot improvement of rural roads; (ii) B.2 Support for Improving Agro-logistics
Activities. Support to Agro-logistics performance enhancement activities. This will include support
to farms and cooperatives to reduce post-harvest losses and support to the SMEs at the agrologistics centers. The sub-component will proactively work to resolve issues faced by female
entrepreneurs and market users. These activities will be identified through a targeted prior study,
to be funded by the project; and (iii) B.3 Consultancies Studies and Supervision. This subcomponent will provide TA support to state-level road sector reforms activities, to the
establishment of an asset management system, and to the design and supervision of civil works
under the component.
c. Component C. Institutional Development, Project Management and Risk Mitigation. The
component has two sub-components. (i) C.1 Institutional Development and Project Management.
This sub-component will involve support to institutional development of the rural transport,
trading infrastructure and agro-logistics activities, maintenance and management. It will also
support project operating costs, TA consultancies including support to the Department of Lands
under the FMWH to address the resettlement activities systematically (e.g. developing national
sector-specific guideline on valuation, land acquisition and resettlement, computerizing land
valuation and resettlement processes and digitizing databases), training and study tours, project monitoring and impact evaluation activities. Preparation activities connected to any future rural
transport and trading projects, including studies and TA to incorporate new states within the
proposed project, will be supported by the sub-component; and (ii) C.2 Risk Mitigation and
Resiliency. This sub-component will support project risk mitigation and resiliency activities,
including sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), gender, grievance redressal, rural road safety and
climate resiliency of rural roads.
d. Component D. Contingent Emergency Response. The component will address any unforeseen
emergency infrastructure needs following a natural disaster.
Component Details
Component A: Improvement of Rural Access and Trading Infrastructure (US$271 million equivalent - 47
percent of total costs; The Association - US$140 million equivalent; AFD - US$114 million equivalent; GoN
- US$17 million equivalent):
20. Component Objective. To improve rural access and to improve rural agricultural marketing
through the upgrading of rural roads, construction of short-span critical cross-drainage structures,
improvement of agro-logistics centers and support to the costs of consultancies and supervision of
construction activities.
21. Component Strategy. The component design includes a number of strategy elements, namely: (a)
rural roads that connect agro-logistics centers planned to be upgraded under the proposed project will be
implemented on a priority basis. Next in line for upgrading will be those rural roads that have higher
network and agricultural productivity impact when compared with their peers. The remainder of the
quota will be fulfilled by roads that are on the longlist; (b) small cross-drainage structures
(bridges/culverts), largely up to a clear span of 15 meters, which are crucial for rural access will be
constructed on rural roads; (c) the agro-logistics center interventions will be decided on a market-bymarket basis depending on the main roles the particular market plays in rural trading; and (d) design-build
(with extended defects liability period) procurement method will be adopted that will shift the design,
cost-escalation and time overrun risks to the contractors.
22. Component Targets and Activity Details. The component targets will be the following. Subcomponent A.1 (a) rural roads upgrading – 1,625 km at a cost of US$179 million; (b) construction of crossdrainage structures 1,040 meters (largely up to 15 meters of clear span) at a cost of US$12 million; and (c)
improvement of 65 numbers of agro-logistics centers at a cost of US$74 million; Sub-component A.2
Design, procurement and consultancy supervision support to sub-component A.1 activities at a cost of
US$6 million.
23. Selection of Roads and Agro-Logistics Centers. Participating states have already completed studies
that long-listed the rural roads and agro-logistics centers. These studies have provisionally identified a
total of roughly 8,000 km of roads and 94 agro-logistics centers (on average 550 km of roads and seven
centers per state). The states used a multicriteria analysis technique for the provisional selection of the
roads and markets. The key criteria for the provisional road selection are: overall network connectivity
including connectivity to markets, agriculture or agri-business potential of the road corridor, and the
road’s potential in serving poor and isolated areas. The initial selection of agro-logistics centers is based
on social and economic potential as well as physical connectivity of the centers, especially regarding
access to state of federal road networks. In some cases, one of the criteria was the value chain analysis of
leading produce. An agro-logistics validation study is currently being conducted by the Government in order to validate the findings and recommendations of state-sponsored agro-logistics studies. The study
findings are expected to be available by March 2020. Annex 1 provides the details of the methodology for
the provisional roads and market selection processes.
24. Road Surfacing and Design Standards. Based on a detailed analysis, the project has devised a
surfacing strategy. Main elements of the strategy include: (a) avoidance of gravel surfacing due to its
significant disadvantages; (b) use of thin asphalt (=<30mm thickness) surfacing at the initial stage, along
with the trial of single Otta seal low-cost surfacing option. Subject to its suitability, the Otta seal surfacing
will be systematically mainstreamed, as the capacity of the contractors grows; and (c) other low-cost
options, including road stabilization using chemicals, will also be trialed to assess their efficacy in the
context of rural roads in Nigeria. Rigid pavement (cement concrete or reinforced cement concrete) trials
will also be made on vulnerable road sections. The Project Implementation Manual (PIM) will contain
detailed road improvement and agro-logistics center design standards. Annex 1 provides summary design
standards.
25. Agro-logistics center physical interventions. The market physical interventions will include: (a)
construction of open market shades and multiple small-storage-facilities. The open shades will not be
allocated to anyone. They will mainly serve the small farmers or producers, who will sell lesser amounts
of produce openly. The mini storage facilities (with a single front shutter) will be leased out to small to
medium female entrepreneurs. These facilities will serve farmers/sellers to store their produce till the
next market days, if they fail to sell the produce on a specific market day; (b) construction of any
infrastructure for specialized handling for any produce; (c) construction of market internal paths, drainage
infrastructure, toilets and clean water facilities; (d) construction of facilities for holding the market wastes
on a temporary basis; (e) office facilities for the market management committee; and (f) improvement of
market parking and loading facilities. The above is not an exhaustive list. Market intervention elements
will be decided on a market-by-market basis depending on the main roles the particular market plays in
rural trading. Annex 3 provides conceptual drawings of markets.
Component B: Sector Reform, Asset Management and Agro-logistics Performance Enhancement (US$253
million; 44 percent of total costs; The Association - US$112 million equivalent; AFD - US$93 million
equivalent; GoN - US$48 million equivalent):
Component Objective. To initiate and carry out the sector reforms, introduction and implementation of
the road asset management systems and enhancement of the agro-logistics performance.
26. Component Strategy. The component strategy elements include the following: (a) basic
institutional and financing reform activities at the state level will top the road subsector reform priority;
(b) addressing the road asset management in a comprehensive way through the use of a sustainable
framework, appropriate tools and processes for the framework operationalization; and (c) agro-logistics
performance enhancement will depend on the existing knowledge, institutional mechanisms and delivery
methods in achieving Sub-component B.2 objectives. The sub-component will be targeted to small and
medium farmers, in particular women. Studies to generate knowledge regarding enhancing agro-logistics
performance will be initiated in cases where there is a dearth of knowledge. The initial period of the
project (one to one and a half years) will be used in scoping out intervention details of sub-component
B.2, given the dearth of specific knowledge on the agro-logistics requirements, issues and their potential
solutions. World Bank transport and agriculture global practices, and the AFD will work closely to provide
strategic support to this sub-component. |
