The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) recently named ACDI/VOCA to lead the five-year Feed the Future Ghana Market Systems and Resilience Activity. This Activity will continue the work of the Ghana Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement I (ADVANCE I) and II (ADVANCE II) projects, which ACDI/VOCA led from 2009 to 2021. The ADVANCE I and II projects, with funding from USAID’s Ghana Mission under the Feed the Future initiative, strengthened the maize, rice, and soybean value chains. Now, the new Activity aims to leverage this decade of experience linking smallholder farmers to markets, inputs, and services in Ghana.
The Feed the Future Ghana Market Systems and Resilience Activity will strengthen commercial relationships between market actors, improve the rural entrepreneurship ecosystem to enable greater market participation, expand the availability of agribusiness services, and link targeted policy initiatives to improved local economic governance. These activities will result in more competitive, resilient, and stronger markets, increasing inclusive agriculture-led economic growth in northern Ghana. The Activity intends to reach 200,000 individual participants in Ghana, equipping them with improved farm management practices and technologies. Its efforts also aim to boost annual sales of producers and agricultural firms to $183 million.
ACDI/VOCA has partnered with four local Ghanaian organizations to carry out this work. The Association of Church-Based Development NGOs will lead the continued development of the outgrower business model and link smallholders to agricultural research and technology transfer. MBC Africa will build the capacity of public, private, and nonprofit business service providers. Densu Associates will adapt its women’s entrepreneurship approach developed through its partners’ work with the Mastercard Foundation in northern Ghana. Lastly, Kosmos Innovation Center, affiliated with Kosmos Energy, will adapt its successful agri-tech challenge incubator and accelerator model to northern Ghana, focusing on youth entrepreneurship.
This ACDI/VOCA consortium of partners will also include two U.S.-based small businesses. J.E. Austin Associates will lead policy and enabling environment activities. Dimagi will build the capacity of Ghanaian digital service providers and integrate information and communication technology solutions across the Activity’s interventions.
Learn more about our work in Ghana.
