AGRA Supporting Subsistence Farmers To Become Market Oriented Producers – Country Manager

Ghana country manager of AGRA Juliette Lampoh – Agroh says the organisation is working to transition 1.2 million smallholder farmers from subsistence status to market-oriented producers with the launch of its new Ghana strategy.

She says as part of AGRA’s new country strategy, these farmers will be supported to diversify, which will help them build resilience in the work that they do.

Speaking at a networking meeting in Accra with partners, she said the new strategy being implemented from 2023 to 2027 will target a total of 2.5 million smallholder farmers across the country with various interventions.

Madam Lampoh – Agroh said the new strategy will seek to ensure state-level change that will inspire effective partnerships among public and private sector actors to help fix challenges in Ghana’s agro-processing sector.

“The Ghana AGRA Strategy 3.0 responds to the challenge of a weak agro-processing sector in the country, resulting from misalignment between production and post-harvest management systems,” she observed.

She told the meeting AGRA has since 2007 invested more than $60 million in Ghana to support smallholder farmers in the areas of seed systems, soil health, markets, agriculture finance, extension, and input distribution systems.

Madam Lampoh Agroh explained the new strategy will seek to strengthen state capacity for the creation of an enabling environment for the transformation of Ghana’s agri-food systems. It will also seek to enhance the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in agro-processing and value addition.

Additionally, under the new strategy, AGRA will seek to strengthen the resilience of raw materials supply for inclusive agro-processing. And enhance youth and women’s inclusiveness, capacity, and participation in Ghana’s agricultural transformation.

Following the launch of its new strategy in Ghana, AGRA has been seeking proposals from Ghanaian institutions for sub-award grants so they partner with AGRA to work towards meeting the objectives of the strategy. Madam Lampoh – Agroh encouraged partners to work with AGRA to deliver “good projects that are well aligned to the strategy” for the benefit of smallholder farmers.

One of the meeting participants Kelvin Atuguba who is CEO of the Africa StartUp Academy commended AGRA for its new strategy. He observed efforts aimed at improving food security must necessarily prioritise processing so farmers benefit from the entire value chain. “Improving food security is as much about transforming the way farming is done. And the new AGRA approach to focus on processing will inspire the entrepreneurial spirit of our farmers,” he observed.