AGRA proposes $31m business plan for Ghana
The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), has proposed an amount of $31 million business plan for the country’s agriculture sector from 2016 to 2020.
AGRA is expected to commit majority of funding in the second and third years of the five- year strategic plan to improve the growth of agriculture in the country.
Under the plan, AGRA would double the income of nine- million small holder farmers in six African countries, including Ghana.
The plan would also double the incomes of another 21 million more farm households through grantees, partners to policies and partnerships that increase productivity and access to market.
Mr Kehinde Makinde, the AGRA Ghana Business Plan Team Leader who disclosed this at a two day stakeholder’s business consultative forum in Accra brought together government officials, development partners, private sector operators, and AGRA grantees.
He said the business plan would be aligned with government’s agricultural transformation agenda in partnership with strategic stakeholders on national agricultural enhancement for Africa.
Mr Makinde noted that AGRA would make use of an integrated approach to agriculture transformation in West Africa, to achieve the plan, which includes an adoption of improved technology by the farmers, access to inputs and markets.
He said AGRA’s intervention would focus on 28 districts in two regions of the country targeting 400,000 farmers in the Brong- Ahafo and the Northern regions, which would focus on maize, rice, soybean and cassava.
Mr Fadel Ndiame, Head of the West Africa, AGRA said AGRA had built a strong foundation in the country, working with more than 95 grantees and disbursed $60 million of funding for agriculture.
He said AGRA had released 42 new high-yield crop varieties and provided grants to 11 Ghanaian seed companies and funded 18 PhD and 31 Master of Science in plant breeding and soil science.
Mr Ndiame noted that AGRA would institute a performance management approach to monitor and evaluate the proposed strategic plan for success.
Source: GNA