Transforming Lives in Vulnerable Communities in Togo

Ognawlou, January 11, 2023 - Akossiwa Akakpo lives in Ognawlou, a village located about 35 kilometers from Atakpamé in southern Togo. She is eager to send her granddaughters to school for their future success. However, three years ago, this lively grandmother in a blue and yellow boubou was struggling to make ends meet. 

Thanks to the Social Safety Net and Basic Services project (in French Projet Filets sociaux et services de base, FSB), supported by the World Bank and implemented by the National Grassroots Development Agency (Agence nationale d'appui au développement à la base, ANADEB), Akossiwa and several households in the village have benefited from key basic infrastructure they were missing for many years: the construction of a water borehole and a community center. A godsend for this village of 876 inhabitants, 456 of whom are women who often bear the responsibility for water chores.

Easing the daily burden on households

Before the borehole was built, Akossiwa’s girls and others in the village used to fetch water from the Amou river, an hour’s walk away. The commissioning of the new infrastructure has quickly brought some significant change in the lives of people in her household and improved their living conditions.

“My granddaughter Dorcas used to go the river twice in the morning and twice in the evening to provide water for the family. The water was infected with worms and made us sick, but we had no choice. As a result, she was often late for school. Now she gets water from the borehole in the village; it is safe and a real time-saver. She now devotes more time to her studies and can enjoy a more fulfilling school life.”

Financial supports that give hope to vulnerable households.

FSB has also provided financial support to selected households in the village through its cash transfer scheme. A total of 83 households, including 72 headed by women, received cash transfers in eight installments of FCFA15,000 ($25) per quarter. Total funding received amounted to FCFA120,000 ($200).

One of the beneficiaries is 40-year-old Samuel Kouevi, now a happy market gardener. With the funds he received, Samuel has been able to develop his market gardening business. "Just two years ago, I was really struggling to look after my family because my income was insufficient. In addition to my wife and my four children, I also must take care of my mother who is old and can’t work. Thanks to the cash transfers I have received, my market gardening business has doubled in size. I have increased my production and hired two people to help me,” he explains.

Economic activities engaged by the cash transfers’ beneficiaries have helped to improve the health and well-being of their households and to lift them out of extreme poverty.

Additional funding expands FSB activities across the country

Satisfaction is unanimous as FSB brings relief to the most vulnerable households. Contrary to popular belief, extremely poor people do not necessarily live in rural areas. Indeed, the Togo Poverty and Gender Assessment report indicates that while rural areas remain the most poverty-stricken regions in Togo, with 58.7% of the population living in poverty, urban areas are home to 34.3% of vulnerable people.

An additional phase to support 125,000 households, including 98,750 in rural areas and 26,250 in urban areas - in remote areas of the country, as well as to Greater Lomé - is being financed to the tune of CFAF 18.92 billion ($30 million) by the World Bank, the French Agency of Development, and the Togolese government.

Following on from this, in June 2023 the World Bank allocated a further $100 million to scale up Togo’s social protection impact. The new Social Assistance Transformation for Resilience Program will extend cash transfers to all households in situations of extreme poverty identified in the country. The focus will be on women to strengthen their resilience and break the intergenerational cycle of poverty through timely investments in human capital. The program aims to lift 1.24 million people out of poverty by 2029.