GHANA – The European Union, has committed US$166.74 million (£147 million) as an intervention to revolutionize the agricultural sector in Northern Ghana with an aim of improving food security in the country.
The funding is part of a partnership between the European Union and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in the country.
The agricultural funding support will be rolled out to family farmers and businesses to facilitate in reinforcing their presence in the food value chain by enhancing production of quality products to be distributed along the value chain.
Ghana News Agency reports that the beneficiaries will embrace modern agricultural practices to in the production of agricultural commodities mostly for the local market.
This is expected to enhance food security in the country alongside wit improving household incomes and bolstering the economy.
Additionally, the agricultural practices are aimed at promoting sustainable agricultural practices and mitigate the impact of climate change which is a major problem in the region.
According to Ambassador Diana Acconcia, the Head of European Union Delegation to Ghana, the Savannah Ecological Zone had missed out on economic development, leading to discrepancies in revenue and high level of poverty.
Ambassador Acconcia highlighted that farmers will have direct access to the funds to improve their productive activities.
However, the EU reports that the nation has to meet the relevant indicators with regard to economic performance, good governance, a fair labour regime, among others in order to access the funds.
Ghana is also poised to benefit from US$45.42 million to the Ministry of Finance in Budgetary Support and a US$10.22 million programme with Civil Society Organisations (CSO-RISE) from EU.
Additionally, the ambassador recommended that the government
According to Ambassador Acconcia, maintaining macroeconomic stability would attract investment, and reduce the cost of transacting business in the country.
Employing over half the national labour force, agriculture has long played a pivotal role in Ghana´s economy, and its key agriculture product, cocoa, is one of the top-three export commodities.
In the recent past, the country has been seen to make significant investments into the sector through technological investments in a bid to rejuvenate its contribution to the economy.
With this investment in the value chain, domestic use and export-focused commercial agriculture is likely to make steady progress in the country.
