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German Development Cooperation And EU Support Partners With PPE Against COVID-19

By Reuben Quainoo
Health German Development Cooperation And EU Support Partners With PPE Against COVID-19
JUL 18, 2020 LISTEN

The Market-Oriented Agriculture Programme (MOAP) and the Resilience Against Climate Change Programme (REACH) implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), on behalf of the German Government and the European Union (EU) have donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to support measures against the spread of COVID-19.

To date, GIZ has supported 17 public-sector partners and 25 private partners (associations, aggregators, processors, and farmer-based organisations). The procurement of PPE is an ongoing process and a total of 45 private and 17 public partners will receive support from the German Government and the EU.

Among the items supplied are 5,020 re-usable face masks; 212 gallons (5 litres) of alcohol-based hand sanitisers; 3,236 containers (200 ml) of alcohol-based hand sanitizer liquid; 304 jumbo-sized rolls of tissue paper; 1,120 dispensers (300ml - 500ml) of liquid soap; 189 infrared thermometers; 102 Veronica bucket stands equipped with 40-litre Veronica buckets and 15-litre hand washbasins; 100 foot-operated handwashing stations and 5,229 sensitization posters.

The donation forms part of contributions to support both private and public partners in the North West of Ghana during this pandemic. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, agriculture and many agri-businesses in the North West of Ghana, as in other parts of the country, have been facing additional and unforeseen challenges. Thus, the EU and German Development Cooperation interventions support partners to mitigate these challenges, to allow Regional and District Departments of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to maintain support to farmers and agri-businesses to protect their staff and keep their businesses running, while strictly observing the COVID-19 protocols.

The beneficiary Regional and District Departments of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture are in 14 Districts and 3 Regions. These are 11 District Departments of Agriculture (DoA) across the Upper West Region, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba and North Gonja in the Savannah Region and Mamprugu-Moagduri in the North-East Region, and 3 Regional Coordinating Councils (RCC).

The Market-Oriented Agriculture Programme (MOAP) and the Resilience Against Climate Change (REACH) programme which are being implemented by GIZ, delivered the donated PPE to the Districts, DoAs and RCCs on behalf of the European Union (EU) and the German Development Cooperation. In addition, MOAP supported 25 private sector agri-business partners with COVID-19 PPE whilst 20 private partners would receive their PPE subsequently. Both programmes are part of the EU Ghana Agricultural Programme (EU-GAP) intervention in the Savannah Ecological Zone in Northern Ghana.

About MOAP:

The Market-Oriented Agriculture Programme (MOAP) is a programme financed by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), jointly implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).

The aim of the Market Oriented Agriculture Programme (MOAP) is to enhance quality in agricultural production, to increase income and create jobs along the value chains. MOAP is supporting all relevant stakeholders along the value chain for an inclusive, equitable and climate-smart approach. Youth and women are at the core of the interventions.

Since 2017, MOAP became operational in the North West of Ghana under a substantial co-financing agreement with the European Union (EU). It supports the EU’s Ghana National Indicative Programme, 2014-2020 (Sector 2: Productive investments in agriculture) and contributes to the initiatives in the North-West Savannah zone as part of the EU Ghana Agriculture Programme (EU-GAP).

This extension to the North-Western areas of Ghana, allowed MOAP to further deepen its already existing close collaboration with the public and private extension services providers, decision-makers, producers, processors, input providers and exporters for a robust and successful agri-business. The programme works closely with MoFA at a Regional and District level and supports national institutions such as the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) to further strengthen the agricultural sector of Ghana.

Value chains supported by MOAP are Citrus, Mango, Pineapple, and Vegetables, in selected districts of the South (Bono, Bono East, Eastern, Central and Volta Regions) and Cashew, Groundnuts, Mango, Rice, Sorghum, Soybeans, and Vegetables in 14 selected districts of the North West (in North-East, Savannah and Upper West Regions).

The programme’s current phase runs until the end of 2020, MOAP in the NW will end in 2023. For further information about MOAP, please visit: www.moapghana.com

About REACH:

The EU’s Ghana National Indicative Programme, 2014-2020 (Sector 2: Productive investments in agriculture) fully supports and contributes to the initiatives in the North-West Savannah zone through its "Productive investments for agriculture in the Northern Savannahs ecological zone Programme" comprising three interlinked components.

The EU-funded REACH Project which commenced in January 2019, is one of the three components. REACH itself, also has 3 components:

i) Provision of assistance to district planning teams to develop climate-smart development plans contributing to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of the Paris Climate agreement.

ii) Improving community and individual knowledge and practices in conservation agriculture (CA) through land-use mapping and the development of Community Action Plans (CAPs).

iii) Research into the impacts of climate change on social transformation to inform future planning decisions

Components i and ii are implemented by the Competitive Cashew Initiative (GIZ ComCashew), whereas component iii is managed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). All three components

are implemented in close partnership and collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The programme will run until the end of 2024.

For more information please visit: www.comcashew.org / http://www.a4sd.net

About GIZ:

As a provider of international cooperation services for sustainable development and international education work, GIZ is dedicated to building a future worth living around the world. GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment, energy and the environment, and peace and security. The diverse expertise of our federal enterprise is in demand around the globe, with the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations, the private sector and governments of other countries all benefiting from our services. We work with businesses, civil society actors and research institutions, fostering successful interaction between development policy and other policy fields and areas of activity. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is our main commissioning party.

Currently, GIZ promotes sustainable development in Ghana via about 50 programmes and projects. Our activities cover currently four priority areas: Economic Development, Agriculture, Governance and Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. Additionally, our portfolio extends to other areas such as environment, peace and security. Another focus of GIZ’s work is linking business interests with development-policy goals. Most of the programmes and projects we support in Ghana have successfully brought together national and international private companies, the public sector, and civil society groups to collaborate on development initiatives.

For more information, please visit www.giz.de/ghana

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