In Tamale, Ghana, a US$113million project has been launched to promote and scale up agricultural value chains in the country.
The Ghana Sector Investment Programme (GASIP) is a six-year project funded by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) – a United Nations Food Agency – and implemented by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
The project is aimed at supporting infrastructure development, technology transfer, conservation farming and research to ensure the production of quality food crops to meet demands of the market.
GASIP is anticipated to help about 12,000 rural households, especially women and young people to improve their economic activities and livelihoods. This is a great step towards realising Ghana’s medium-term agricultural sector investment (METASIP).
Mr. Roy Ayariga, National Programme Coordinator of GASIP, said the project’s aim is to make smallholder farmers produce to meet international standards, and also to increase their yields.
He said the project will benefit about 40,000 farmers across the country, and was meant to address challenges farmers encounter in the sector — such as tractors, bad roads, lack of warehouses, post-harvest losses and lack of access to market. The project will support the construction of road networks, warehouses, farm inputs, matching grants in the form of subsidy financing for the purchase of agricultural machinery and equipment, irrigation schemes, and access to finances through linkages to financial institutions.
Source: footprint2africa.com
