EU-GAP bids farewell to Market Oriented Agriculture Programme in North-West

The European Union Ghana Agriculture Programme (EU-GAP) has brought to a successful end the Market Oriented Agriculture Programme in North-West (MOAP NW) Ghana after eight years of its implementation in fourteen districts across three northern regions namely, Upper West, Upper East, and Savannah regions.

The MOAP-NW, a programme aimed at ensuring sustainable employment through agribusiness is funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the European Union (EU).

The official closing ceremony of the program, held in Wa at the Upper West Region saw in attendance dignitaries such as the Upper West Regional Minister, representatives of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Head of Infrastructure and Sustainable Development of the EU Delegation to Ghana Regional and district directors of agriculture, Municipal and District Coordinating directors among others.

Speaking at the ceremony, Madam Astrid Kohl, Cluster Coordinator, Governance & Peace, representing GIZ Ghana stated that the closure of MOAP-NW should not be seen as the end of the program however, it should be seen as the beginning of a new agricultural chapter for Ghana considering the many lives that have been impacted through the implementation of the programme. She also expressed her gratitude to all stakeholders including the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and, the European Union delegation to Ghana for their unwavering support towards the implementation of MOAP-NW.

Highlighting some of the impacts of the programme on farmers, she said more than 3,000 full-time jobs have been created in farming, processing, and agribusiness services. She added that, through MOAP over 83,000 farmers have been trained and resourced. She also added that the programme has successfully linked 13,000 farmers with off-takers and financial institutions, as a measure of ensuring consistent demand and improved income opportunities.

Moreover, the Upper West Regional Minister, Honourable Charles Lwanga Puozuing Esq, during his speech stated the significance of MOAP-NW to the people of the Upper West region saying that the programme has contributed immensely to building capacities of about 400 staff within the departments of agriculture across the fourteen districts in the Upper West region. He added that the programme has been able to facilitate the development of funding proposals for all 14 districts in the region.

Touching on the sustainability of the programme in the region, the minister stated that, the Regional Coordinating Council, will collaborate with the MMDAs, to integrate the MOAP-NW’s best practices into existing agricultural policies and programmes. “Moreover, we will strengthen partnerships with the private sector to ensure continued investment in agribusiness. Farmers’ cooperatives and associations will be further supported to take ownership of market linkages and processing opportunities established under MOAP-NW. In addition, extension service delivery will be expanded to ensure that more farmers continue to receive technical training and advisory support” he added.

Sharing the success stories of MAOP-NW, Jumila Salifu from the Saula Tuna Kalbal district, the Chief Executive Officer of Jamila Enterprise confessed that, meeting MOAP-NW was a life-changing experience. Jamila said MOAP-NW enabled her to expand her business and increase the number of employees to twenty and again, through the programme, her products gained global recognition. Jamila who produces products such as tom brown, and groundnut paste among others says she has been able to sponsor some school dropouts to resume school.

In the same vein, Pastor Thomas a mango farmer who hails from Saula also shared his success story of MOAP-NW. He titled his success story in the following words, “from scattered farm to a united future the power of collaboration in agriculture” where he said he started his mango farm with just five mango trees without any knowledge of mango farming but can now boast of two acres of mango. He humorously added that he had his first flight from Wa to Accra through MOAP-NW. He has been motivated since then to evangelize mango farming in his district.

Portia Gbang an aggregator also shared her success story of EU-GAP and MOAP-NW saying that she has never regretted meeting EU-GAP. Through MOAP-NW training she got motivated to go into commercial farming and processing of soya and she can boast of employing as many as 2,700 women who work in her farm of 500 acres. She has also been able to bring back home girls down south engaging in menial jobs like “kayayo”. Portia also shared that she is now able to export her farm produce. She therefore thanked EU-GAP for the support.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the official closure of MOAP-NW was a field trip to some communities within the Upper West Region that have benefitted from the programme. The first among the fields visited was the Duri’s farm at Bulenga in the Wa East district of the Upper West Region where the EU delegation and other dignitaries engaged the managers of the Duri’s farm which operates as a nucleus farmer, working with over 1,000 smallholder soyabean and groundnut farmers. Speaking to the media, the general manager of Duri’s farm, Mr. Ibrahim Alhassan says EU-GAP has helped them in diverse ways, and notable among them is the Agricultural Input Revolving Funds which enabled them to buy inputs for farmers and the acquisition of the multi-purpose threshers machine which increased their yields from 50 bags to 70 bags per hector

Madam Paulina Rozylka, head of the Sustainable Development Section, EU Delegation to Ghana expressed her satisfaction with the success stories told by the beneficiaries of MOAP-NW in the Upper West Region. She added that the beneficiaries of the programme in the region are determined to translate the help offered by the program into the desired goal of MOAP-NW.

Similarly, Mr. Blepong Harry, Deputy Director for MoFA stated that the programme resonates with the government’s agricultural policies tailored to increasing food productivity. He also added that MoFA has put measures in place to ensure the programme is sustained in the country. Mr. Harry went on to thank the EU and all the partners that aided in the successful implementation of MAOP-NW.