Project profile — Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased adoption of relevant, productivity-enhancing technologies, which would result in yield increases in maize and rice, and a reduction of post-harvest losses; (2) increased adoption of market-oriented approaches to farm management, which would result in increased volume of produce marketed and agribusiness agreements signed; and (3) increased private sector investments in sustainable agricultural input supply, production, marketing and processing, which would result in increased number of farmers accessing input suppliers, loans, and equity investment to grow their businesses.

Results achieved as of December 2020 include: (1) facilitated 4,286 agricultural extension agents in completing 875,324 farm and home visits, reaching a total of 5,776,587 farmers (close to five times the number of farmers visited in 2016.) The agents guided the farmers through the various elements of the value-chain, from pre-planting to agro-processing, to packaging and marketing; (2) increased the number of farmers in commodity-based farmer groups from 87,932 in 2016 to 250,747 farmers in 2020; (3) supported regional and district departments of agriculture in linking 97,564 farmers (of which 37% women) to traders/aggregators and processors; and (4) provided support leading to a total of 1, 478 students (of which 488 women) completing or starting the new market-oriented, gender-sensitive and climate-smart training curriculum. This training took place in five agricultural colleges, which train potential future agriculture extension agents and future entrepreneurs; (5) contributed to the provisional 7.4% agricultural growth rate recorded in 2020, which has translated into an adequate self-sufficiency ratio of major staple food crops; and (6) improved farmers’ livelihoods, including through enhancing their ability to pay their children’s school fees, construct and rehabilitate family houses, acquire assets, expand farm operations and establish commercial shops to diversify their income sources.