Impact evaluation of the Nigeria Commercial Agriculture Development Project

The Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) is a World Bank project carried out in Nigeria. It aims at strengthening agricultural production systems and supporting the dissemination and adoption of new technologies for targeted value chains among small and medium scale commercial farmers in five participating states. These value chains are based on the comparative advantage of each state and include support for staple crop production systems. This is the first project of its kind in Nigeria and reflects the new emphasis on agricultural growth and diversification of the economy into the non-oil sectors. Public interventions to accelerate agricultural growth have hitherto targeted small and subsistence farmers. The CADP represents an important attempt to make Nigeria’s growth sustainable, increase employment and reduce poverty in rural areas, and to boost investment in new technologies. The project is comprehensive and ambitious in scope and involves significant investments in form of farmers subsidies aimed at increasing agricultural production  and improving access to markets through construction and rehabilitation of rural infrastructure. IRVAPP has been commissioned by the World Bank to conduct a rigorous impact evaluation, that comprises the project design and the assessment of various project subcomponents. It will estimate of the efficacy of matching grants as a tool to promote the adoption of new technologies and boost production levels, and assess the impact of improved infrastructures in raising access to markets and incrementing farmers productivity. The evaluation will be a crucial tool for an efficient scale-up of the program nation-wide.