Ghana at Forefront of the Feed the Future Initiative

In Africa, Ghana is at the forefront of Feed the Future, a U.S. Government initiative to reduce global hunger and strengthen food security. The Ghana Feed the Future (FTF) FY 2011-2015 Multi-Year Strategy outlines the five-year strategic, coordinated, whole-of-government approach to address food security.

The initiative will support the Ghana Government's own commitment to food security and build on a common purpose shared among civil society, the private sector, and development partners. There is broad consensus that up-scaled private sector investment in agriculture, especially in the form of public-private partnerships, can make a significant difference in achieving food security and accelerating agricultural sector growth in Ghana and the West African region as a whole.

Agriculture is the bedrock of the Ghanaian economy. Ghana signed its Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) Compact in 2009 and established a Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (METASIP) for 2009-2015 aiming for "a modernized agriculture culminating in a structurally transformed economy and evident in food security, employment opportunities and reduced poverty." Feed the Future directly supports METASIP, as well as the principles of the CAADP Compact, which was signed by all major stakeholders in the country committed to achieving this vision - including civil society and private sector.

The U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has proposed a focused and high-impact approach to transform the major rice, maize, and soya value chains – with particular emphasis on the north. The approach emphasizes full integration of nutrition and gender considerations within the transformation process. The program also seeks to improve the sustainable management of marine fisheries to enhance the food security and livelihoods of coastal fishing communities.

All of these are priorities under the METASIP. Appropriate natural resource management and climate change adaptation interventions will be designed and incorporated. Feed the Future in Ghana is also dedicated to improving the resilience of vulnerable households in targeted communities and nation-wide improvement of the nutritional status of women and children. These are all part of an integrated strategy to tackle poverty and food insecurity for smallholder farm and fishing communities.

Under Feed the Future, USAID will support the Government of Ghana in delivering on the objectives of the METASIP through efforts such as improving enabling policies, employing innovative mechanisms to attract private investment, and enhancing the human resource capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture. The initiative also aims to strengthen the institutional capacity of other agriculture-related organizations and elicit community engagement. Partnerships with the private sector, civil society, and other development partners are all key to achieving Feed the Future goals.