- Implementation Support Agency (ISA): World Bank
- Total project financing: $150 million
- Funding from GCFF: $15 million
- GCFF Financing Approval Date: 04/15/2022
- Project Closing Date: 06/30/2023
- % Disbursed: 100%
- Status: Closed
About the project
The war in Ukraine has delivered a major shock to global commodity markets. Lebanon is heavily dependent on wheat imports, most of which came from Ukraine and Russia before the crisis. The conflict comes at a time when Lebanon has been grappling with the direst of shocks, starting with the acute economic and financial crises, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, and finally the Port of Beirut explosion. Refugees and their host communities are among the most affected by these crises. The food security situation continues to deteriorate in Lebanon and has reached alarming levels for some population groups, particularly refugees.
The project aligns with the Helping Countries Transition out of Fragility pillar of the Strategy for Fragility, Conflict, and Violence 2020–2025, by ensuring wheat availability to foster social contract between citizens and the state and a healthy local private sector. It would also contribute to the delivery of the World Bank Group Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for the Lebanese Republic for the Period FY17-FY22 by renewing the social contract contributing to strengthening the relationship between the state and its citizens, a critical ingredient for peace and stability. The project will specifically respond to the unprecedented humanitarian needs for the Lebanese people, the size and scale of which are rapidly increasing.
Project Development Objective (PDO)
To ensure the availability of wheat in Lebanon, in response to the global commodity market disruptions, and to maintain access to affordable bread by poor and vulnerable households.
Project Implementation Status
After overall the satisfactory implementation, project was closed on October 31, 2024. The project resources were nearly fully utilized, and the remaining balance of US$ 1.6 million will be refunded by the Ministry of Finance. The gradual relaxation of the regional wheat prices over the project implementation period, after they reached a record high in early 2022, allowed the project resources to be used efficiently and purchase more than the original import target of 250,000 MT. At its completion, the PDO targets exceeded. As of October 2024, the project has facilitated the import of 567,475 MT of wheat (monthly consumption is about 30,000 MT), which were delivered to Lebanon between February 2023 and September 2024. The project developed upstream and downstream digital dashboard for monitoring the wheat value chain.
Bread access has been ensured to satisfactory levels even in the areas in Lebanon affected by conflict and displacement. There was a steady increase in bread access between October 2023 and May 2024, with vulnerable groups, overall, reporting an improvement from 93.1% in October 2023 to 98.9% in May 2024. Over the same interval, refugees reported an increase from 92.9% to 99.1%; host beneficiaries from 94.4% to 98.7%; and women from 92.9% to 98.8%. During hostilities escalation in September 2024, a total of 963 assessments were conducted, when households were asked about their access to Arabic white bread, 99.15% of respondents reported having adequate access (99.6 % Syrian refugees; 96.7 % host beneficiaries, 97.8 % vulnerable female population, both Syrian and Lebanese. The lowest percentage of access to affordable bread at 88.8 % was observed in El Nabatiyeh. Thanks to decrease in regional wheat prices and a gradual alignment of wheat and bread prices to market prices, the bread subsidy was smoothly removed by the end of the project.
Relevant Documents: