USAID To Scale Up Agric Investments

The new phase of the United States Agency for International Development and the Feed the Future's Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement (USAID – ADVANCE II) project has been launched in Tamale.

The ADVANCE II project is aimed at scaling up agricultural investment to improve the competiveness of the maize, rice and soybean value chains, especially in Northern Ghana.

A statement issued and signed by Adwoa Mensima Sey, Public Relations and Communications Director of USAID- ADVANCE II project in Tamale recently said the initiative was under the Feed the Future (FtF), a President Barack Obama's flagship programme aimed at increasing food security and improving nutritional status around the world.

It said in Ghana, ADVANCE II would focus on supporting farmers to adopt improved production technologies, value addition technologies, market and linkages to buyers with emphasis on paying special attention to women in ensuring that they equally benefited from all project's activities and resources

The statement said over the next four years, the project was expected to reach over 100,000 maize, rice and soya farmers in northern Ghana through public and private sector partners.

It said ADVANCE II was being implemented by a consortium of local and international partners led by Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA).

The statement said the consortium of the local partners included ACDEP, Pab Consult and Technoserve.

It said the project would also collaborate with other Feed the Future projects, as well as other relevant agencies in improving agricultural investment in Northern Ghana.

- GNA