Hon. Clement Kofi Humado, Minister for Food and Agriculture, addressing the gathering at the Launch, at the far end is Dr. Lamourdia Thiombiano
A US$400,000.00 Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) aimed at empowering actors in the cassava value chain dubbed “Empowering Cassava Value Chain Actors to Enhance Incomes, Employment and Food Security” has been jointly launched by the Minister for Food and Agriculture and the Food and Agricultural Organisation Representative in Ghana.
Targeting mainly small scale cassava farmers, processors, aggregators and industrial enterprises in some selected districts in the Central and Northern Regions, the two-year Programme is also to enhance the productivity of cassava farmers, strengthen market linkages between cassava farmers and processors and to consolidate lessons learned through the documentation of good practices.
The project is expected to adopt a participatory community-based approach to target about 2,000 households to benefit directly.
Speaking as the key speaker for the occasion, Hon. Clement Kofi Humado, Minister for Food and Agriculture, said cassava holds the position as a primary food security crop in Ghana due to its resistance to drought and disease, flexible planting and harvest cycle, and its adaptation to wide ecological areas including its tolerance to marginal soil.
“The crop is used to prepare several dishes and accounts for the bulk of dietary energy requirements of both humans and livestock” he added.
According to Hon. Humado, statistics available indicate that, Ghana is the third largest cassava producer in Africa, with incomes from its production and processing representing about one fifth of the country’ agricultural GDP (CAVA, 2013). Ninety per cent of Ghana’s farming population is said to be engaged in cassava related activities thereby contributing immensely to their incomes.
He further indicated that, research has shown that other products from cassava such as High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) and starch which are used in the beverage and pharmaceutical industries respectively can create much more value for the value chain actors.
The Minister admitted to the importance and timeliness of the TCP project in supporting the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s systems of evolving in value chain approaches to its agricultural sector development.
“it is my pleasure to reiterate that our policy document amply supports the adoption of value addition and market access as core strategies in the value chain modes we are rolling out at the Ministry” he said.
The Minister, used the occasion to enumerate some other projects in the cassava value chain such as the Roots and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme (RTIMP), the Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI) on cassava, the German International Cooperation’s (GIZ) Market Oriented Agriculture Programme (MOAP) and United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) ADVANCE Programme which have also used value chain approaches for various commodities including maize, rice and vegetables.
He therefore charged the project managers and stakeholders to fall on the good lessons of those initiatives in the implementation of this project.
Hon. Humado expressed his sincere gratitude to the FAO for securing funding for the project and pledged that the Ministry will make budgetary provisions for sustaining and further mainstreaming the achieved results.
He added that for several years, the FAO has provided agricultural development assistance to Ghana through funding and technical assistance in the areas of policy, sector development, emergency initiatives and Technical Cooperation Programmes.
The FAO Representative to Ghana, Dr. LamourdiaThiombiano, in his speech, said the FAO is proud to continually offer its support to the Government in effort to better the livelihoods of the small and medium scale farmers.
The participant in a group Picture with Hon. Humado and Dr. Thiombiono after the official launch of the project
The participant in a group Picture with Hon. Humado and Dr. Thiombiono after the official launch of the project
According to Dr. Thiombiono, the project is linked to the Rural Poverty Reduction Initiative being implemented by the Government of Ghana with the support of the Food and Agricultural Organisation in the Northern region.
He pledged FAO’s commitment to support the Ghanaian Government in efforts to modernize agriculture for improved food security, employment generation and poverty reduction.
Source: MOFA
