Stakeholders in Ghana’s agricultural value chains from the public and private sectors convened at the IFDC office in Ghana on February 15 for the 2024 IFDC Ghana Open Door event. This event aimed to strengthen IFDC’s valuable partnerships with national agricultural sector stakeholders.
The 2024 Open Door event commemorates IFDC’s 50 years of Developing Agriculture from the Ground Up and showcases the organization’s innovative technologies in support of Ghana’s national agriculture agenda.
Addressing current agricultural challenges regarding fertilizer and soil health across West Africa and, specifically, Ghana requires collaboration through strong partnerships to develop and deploy innovative tools and technologies that will improve the capacity of the soil to produce food for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people.
IFDC Vice President of Programs, Dr. Oumou Camara, says of tackling these challenges, “At IFDC, we believe the key to global food security starts with the soil, so we strive to develop better fertilizer and production technologies, transfer these improved technologies to smallholder farmers, and connect these farmers to efficient and profitable markets.”
Since its inception in 2002, the IFDC office in Ghana has been contributing to the national agricultural agenda, maintaining a close relationship with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and other strategic partners. It has also supported the development and deployment of innovative fertilizer data access tools, including the Ghana Fertilizer Dashboard.
“By working with strategic partners, we build local capacity and ensure sustainable impact to help our smallholder farmers improve their livelihoods.”
Dr. Oumou Camara, IFDC Vice President of programs
IFDC remains actively involved in fostering the growth of agriculture throughout Ghana, playing a direct and indirect role in promoting local economic development by increasing food and agricultural productivity. It does so through effective and environmentally sound crop nutrient technologies and agribusiness expertise using a bottom-up approach.
During his keynote address, Dr. Bocar Diagana, Director of Enabling Impact, stated, “IFDC is deeply committed to supporting the agricultural transformation agenda in Ghana and across the African continent. Our mission is rooted in empowering farmers, enhancing soil fertility, promoting sustainable agricultural practices, and ensuring food security for all.”
IFDC interventions in Ghana aim to significantly boost the production of higher-quality food by eliminating waste and losses of agricultural water, land, seeds, and fertilizers. Additionally, the organization promotes climate-smart and resilient farming systems and technologies among smallholder farmers to reduce adverse environmental impacts associated with agricultural productivity.
To further strengthen their working relationship, IFDC and the Government of Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2023 that will benefit hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers across the country. The partnership aims to help farmers increase their agricultural productivity and income for improved livelihoods.
At the event, IFDC showcased several projects and programs implemented in Ghana, including the following:
- Toward Sustainable Clusters in Agribusiness through Learning in Entrepreneurship (2SCALE): A program funded by the Netherlands Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) that incubates and accelerates inclusive business through partnerships with companies.
- Fertilizer Research and Responsible Implementation (FERARI): A public-private program, co-funded by OCP Group, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), and other involved institutions, that integrates an on-the-ground implementation program to develop the fertilizer value chain with transdisciplinary research by doctoral and postdoctoral researchers.
- Feed the Future Enhancing Growth through Regional Agricultural Input Systems (EnGRAIS): Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), EnGRAIS aims to increase the availability, affordability, and use of high-quality fertilizers for smallholder farmers in West Africa.
- AfricaFertilizer: Implemented with supporting partners, such as Development Gateway, USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and others, AfricaFertilizer is the premier source for fertilizer statistics and information in Africa.
By bringing together key agricultural stakeholders on this special occasion, IFDC showed its dedication to building stronger partnerships to help mitigate some of the challenges that millions of Ghana’s smallholder farmers face. The Open Door event in Ghana, along with the organization’s other efforts, is expected to boost agricultural productivity, food security, and economic growth in the country.
