To tackle the challenges faced by small-scale farmers in rural areas of Ghana, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is partnering with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to allocate approximately US$7 million in crucial assistance.
The funding will be distributed in two installments through a specially designed cash transfer program, benefiting around 17,000 farming households in selected districts within the northern regions of Ghana.
Barbara Clemens, the Representative and Country Director of the World Food Programme in Ghana, emphasized the significance of this initiative in addressing the needs of the targeted beneficiaries.
“Starting in June, 17,000 targeted productive smallholder farmers in 163 communities and 17 districts in Northern Ghana will be assisted with MoMo cash transfers to mitigate the risks of shocks and loss of productive assets due to input prices caused by inflation,” she said.
“During this lean season, from June to August 2023, farmers will use these transfers to buy the inputs and food they need, when they need them,” she added.
“Let me emphasize the who and where of this initiative. Productive ( and the key word is productive) smallholder farmers in Northern, Northeast, Upper East and Upper West were targeted to receive this assistance because they are in USAID’s zone of influence,” she noted.
On his part, the Deputy Minister for Ministry of Food and Agriculture in charge of Crops, Yaw Frimpong Addo indicated that the Farmer Support Activity project is in line with government phase two of the planting for food and jobs which seeks to shift agriculture activities from the subsistence to commercial terrain.
“This project we are launching today there’s a component in the new PFJ chapter two which will be launched latest by early next month. It is a 5 year program and it is about commercial agriculture which focuses on from input subsidy to input credit,” he said.