AGRICULTURE
Final Evaluation of Enhanced Nutrition and Value Chains Project in Ghana (ENVAC) – Global Affairs Canada, World Food Programme (WFP) (2021)
AFC partnered with Institut de Recherche et d’Applications des Méthodes de développement(IRAM) in conducting the final evaluation for the WFP ENVAC Project. The ENVAC Project was based on a market-based approach to tackling nutrition problems in Ghana. The project aimed to include smallholder farmers in value chains to develop nutritious complementary foods while sensitizing the general population, especially women, on the benefits of consuming such foods. The main goals of the ENVAC intervention were to improve nutrition and food security of targeted beneficiaries and improve sales of staples for staples for targeted smallholder farmers, particularly to industrial processors.
The Prosperity Study Literature Review by the Prosperity Project Team. Working document for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture with support from DFID, March 2001
The Ghana Market Development (MADE) for Northern Ghana Programme Independent Evaluation Data Collection Activities. WYG International, (January to March, 2017).
Associates for Change in partnership with WYG International, implemented the Ghana Market Development (MADE) data collection activities for the Independent Evaluation. Of the Northern Ghana Programme The Independent Evaluation was to assess the experiences of farmers and service providers concerning the keystone nodes, rice node’s and onion nodes’ relevance, benefits, and unintended consequences of interventions at critical points of the theory of change. The latter study observed best practice of the onion node and the extent to which the onion value chain interventions have contributed to systemic and lasting change.
World Food Programme Country Mid-Term Review (Ghana) (October, 2014 to June 2015)
Associates for Change fielded a Senior Evaluator (Education, Gender and Capacity Building) who was part of a team of experts that undertook the mid-term review of the WFP Ghana Country Programme. Her role included conducting the Country Programme’s Mid-Term Evaluation of WFP’s school feeding programme and take-home rations for girls in Ghana. She was responsible for assessing the contribution WFP was making towards gender equity and building capacity of the Ghana government to deal with this issue. She worked with two other international experts in evaluating the WFP programme using the DAC criteria for country evaluation.
PRO-POOR AGRICULTURE: THE PATHS TO PROSPERITY STUDY
The Prosperity Study is a comprehensive study on poverty reduction and agricultural development in Ghana . Commissioned by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) with support from the Department for International Development (DFID) Rural Livelihood Programme in late 2000, a group of Ghanaian researchers committed themselves to addressing six key research objectives:
- to conduct a comprehensive review of the government’s previous agriculture policies and programs;
- to evaluate the agricultural economy and how macro-economic policies affect the poor, including a background analysis to poverty in Ghana ;
- to determine how the Accelerated Agriculture Growth and Development Strategy (AAGDS) can become more pro-poor;
- to identify constraints or barriers facing vulnerable groups in farming and fishing communities;
- to create effective strategies to assist vulnerable groups;
- to develop the capacity of government officials for policy learning and evidence based planning.
The Prosperity Project Team included Dr Leslie Casely-Hayford, Dr Ameza, Ms Angela Dannson Ms Lena Otoo, Mr Peter Asibey-Bonsu and Mr P.A. Bruce from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
MEDA FOOD SECURITY STUDY
The Ghana Food Security Research with a Focus on the Upper West Region, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), July, 2012.
AfC was contracted to conduct a food security study on the value chain of soya beans for the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). The focus of the Ghana Food Security Research was to investigate the current food security situation for families in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The study explored issues around food security, cropping and labor patterns from a gender perspective, and approaches taken by families in making nutritional decisions. The research also investigated the constraints families, particularly women, face in attaining food security; and the solutions that women and family members suggested towards improving the food security situation in their households. The study is expected to build upon the research MEDA and CIDA have conducted over the last 20 years and inform the design of the MEDA food security programme in Ghana’s Upper West Region. The MEDA Food Security Project is designed to assist women increase the availability, access and utilization of a variety of appropriate and nutritious foods through strengthening production and market linkages; increasing the diversification in production; and creating nutritional awareness.
Key studies developed as part of the overall project include:
A Historical Review of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture's Policies and Programmes (1900-2000) by the Prosperity Project Team. Working document for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture with support from DFID, October 2001.
This report is a brief historical review of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s (MoFA) policies and programs over the last 100 years. It includes an outline of the main features of each period related to the government’s political economic orientation and the major trends within that period.
The document is divided into three main sections. The first section contains an overview of the policy-making influences in relation to policy formulation over the 100-year period. The second section contains a historical outline of MoFA’s policy formulation highlighting the projects and programmes formulated within each historic period. The third section contains an analysis of the key projects, which were formulated within the period between 1983 and 1998. This is the period within which the Medium Term Agricultural Development Plan (MTADP) was formulated and the beginning of the Agricultural Sector Support Investment Programme (AgSSIP).
The Literature Review is organized along the six main objectives of the Prosperity Study and offers a comprehensive analysis of existing documents related to Government agriculture programmes and policies within Ghana , macro economic policies affecting the poor, constraints and barriers faced by the poor. It also provides a review of literature related to how the accelerated Agriculture Growth and Development Strategy can become more pro-poor, effective strategies to assist the poor, and finally how to develop capacity of Government for policy learning.
The Prosperity Study Bibliography by the Prosperity Consulting Team. Working document for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture with support from DFID, March 2001.
This document is a guide for researchers working within the agriculture field to relevant documents used by the prosperity team-members in their document and literature review; it is divided into 18 sections relating to the key objectives of the prosperity study and includes an assessment of information gaps in research and suggestions for next steps.
The Prosperity Study Discussion Papers by the Prosperity Project Team. Prepared for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture with support from DFID, September 2001.
The Prosperity Study Discussion Papers include,
- “The GOG [Government of Ghana ] Agricultural Programmes: Successes and Failures” by Mr. P.A. Bruce
- “Impact of Macro Economic Policies on Agriculture and Poverty” by Ms. Angela Dannson
- “Poverty and Agriculture in Ghana : Towards a Framework for Pro-poor Analysis within MoFA” by Dr. Leslie Casely-Hayford
- “The Poor: What are their Constraints and what Strategies can be Applied to Reduce Poverty?” By Dr. Kwame Amezah
- “Constraints, Barriers and Strategies to Reduce Poverty Among Vulnerable Groups in Small Holder Farming/Fishing Communities” by Mr. Peter Asibey-Bonsu
- “How the AAGDS can be made more Responsive to the Needs of the Poor” by Ms. Lena Otoo
Towards a Framework for Meeting the Diverse Service Needs of Farmers in Ghana : A Synthesis of Findings on Poverty and Agricultural Development in Ghana by Dr. Leslie Casely-Hayford and the Prosperity Consulting Team. Final Report produced for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture with support from DFID, July 2001.
This synthesis is an attempt to compile the information, lessons learned, and ways forward based on studies conducted by the Prosperity Research Team in the fields of poverty and agricultural development in Ghana . The report is divided into four main sections. The first section explores the key lessons from policy making and macro economic impacts on the poor. The second section presents an analysis of poverty from a macro and micro perspective. The third section provides an analysis of the current poverty programming within the Government of Ghana and Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and an analysis of how far the Accelerated Agriculture Growth and Development strategies address the needs of the poor. The final section presents the main theoretical underpinnings and indicators needed to establish a poverty framework within MoFA for policies and programmes to take on a more pro- poor orientation.
Reaching the Poor Through Agricultural Development: A Synthesis of Key Findings by Dr. Leslie Casely-Hayford and the Prosperity Consulting Team. Final Report produced for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture with support from the DFID Livelihood Programme, October 2001.
This synthesis is based on key findings from the Prosperity Study discussion papers and working documents, which focused on helping the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to assess its policies from a pro-poor standpoint. The report provides an overview of the situation of Ghana ‘s poor and their inability to make agriculture a sustainable rural livelihood. Some of the key findings reveal that rural poverty is on the increase in Ghana, particularly in the northern regions of the country; that over 60% of people living under the poverty line are categorised as food crop farmers; that Ghana’s poor live mainly in rural areas and are engaged in subsistence food crop production as a main source of livelihood; that the vast majority of the poor are female rural farmers; and finally, that the majority of food crop farmers farm less than two hectares of land and limit their activities to subsistence food crop farming with little capital, technological innovations or diversity from livestock and other livelihood activities.