Korea offers grant to boost agric sector

The Government of the Republic of Korea has offered a grant of $6.18 million to boost the agricultural sector in Ghana.

The support is to strengthen Farmer-Based Organisations (FBO), social enterprises and cooperative organisations in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions.

The four-year project would also include training and capacity building to improve productivity and livelihoods of beneficiary farmers.

MoU

The project will be implemented jointly by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) on behalf of their respective governments. 

Signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between KOICA and MELR, the Country Director of KOICA, Woo-Chan Chang, said the project sought to strengthen the establishment of farmer-based organisations in its operational areas.

He said the project did not only seek to promote best practices in agriculture, but would also enhance the entrepreneurial, processing and marketing skills of beneficiaries.

Mr Chang said under the project, local farmers would be introduced to Korea’s best cooperative practices and experiences such as the model of Saemaul Undong (SMU) concept that involved diligence, self-help and collaboration.

Concept

According to him, the SMU concept was the catalytic tool that propelled the rural development of Korea and opined that if it was properly modelled and applied in Ghana, similar results could be achieved. 

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For his part, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Alhaji Haruna Iddrisu, said the government was strengthening social enterprises with the introduction of a harmonised cooperative bill. 

He indicated that the grant would help to create jobs, improve livelihoods and also reduce poverty in the three northern regions. 

Other stakeholders in the implementation of the project are the Ministries of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and Trade and Industry (MoTI), Department of Cooperatives (DoC), Ghana Cooperative College and the Ghana Cooperative Council.