Ghana, FAO sign $31.6 financing agreement to develop agriculture

The Ghana government and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have signed two financial agreements totalling $31.6 million for the development of agriculture and sustainable environment.

Under the first agreement, the FAO would contribute  $3.6 million for the implementation of a Country Programming Framework (CPF) to support more strategic and focused engagement between the government and the FAO through its technical co-operation programme.

The FAO and the government are to jointly mobilise $28 million to finance the Agricultural Sector Wide Approach (AGRISWAp) programme intended to enhance planning, harmonising and the co-ordination of interventions in the sector under the second agreement.

The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Clement Humado, and the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Ato Forson, signed for Ghana, while Dr Lamourdia Thiombiano, the FAO Country Representative, initialled for the FAO.

In a remark, Dr Thiombiano said the CPF was co-owned by the Government of Ghana and the FAO and explained that it was a planning and a result-based management tool that would yield much dividend for the agricultural sector.

He gave the assurance that development partners and donor organisations would be engaged and presented with programmes and projects drawn from the CPF to draw resources to finance those programmes and projects.

For his part, Mr Humado expressed the government’s willingness to work together with the FAO to mobilise and direct resources and technical expertise in the three priority areas.

Source: Daily Graphic