Support to Agriculture Sector Harmonisation (SASH)

2007 - 2009

>£400K

Department for International Development (DFID)

24 months of expertise in agricultural policy and process; technical advice; capacity building; workshop facilitation; awareness-raising.

The agriculture sector is the cornerstone of Ghana’s economy with 60% of its population relying on farming for a living. Therefore Ghana’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers concentrated heavily on the modernisation of agriculture as a route to rural transformation. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) developed a holistic sector-wide approach to manage agricultural development as opposed to the discreet project approach pursued in the past. As part of this, all donor-funded projects were to be brought within a common coordination framework to avoid duplication and waste.

To enhance the effectiveness of investment, a strategy was developed to enable: private sector development in the agriculture sector; the participation of small and poor farmers in growth; local, regional and international markets through trade; and better direct investment in areas such as extension, research, roads, financial services and others essential for agricultural development. The strategy was combined with better plans for the actual implementation of strategy, based on a greater understanding of:

• agricultural policy;
• inter-Ministerial coordination; and
• interaction with farmers and other private sector clients.

Poverty reduction was addressed via two routes, both direct and indirect.  Improved livelihoods for poor farmers arose from more enabling policies and better targeted investment.  Indirect impacts, mediated through enhanced agricultural growth and growth linkages, included enhanced employment, business and trade opportunities in the formal and informal sectors.

HTSPE supported MoFA with strategic thinking, planning, technical and policy advice. They provided a facilitatory role to MoFA engagement with other Ministries and partners to ensure a proactive approach to the SASH process.

HTPSE played a key role in revising the main policy document for the agriculture sector after consulting with a wide range of stakeholders. Following approval of this policy, HTSPE helped turn this policy into a practical plan for action. Now the onus is on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to review the agriculture policy annually to ensure it is in line with emerging challenges in the sector and other relevant global issues.

One such recent challenge was the increase in global oil prices, which resulted in higher prices for food and fertiliser. This threatened both the livelihoods of poor Ghanaian farmers and potentially the domestic food supply systems in Ghana. Therefore the Ministry of Food and Agriculture put in place a fertiliser subsidy scheme for the first time in 2008. HTSPE participated in a Review of the 2008 Agriculture Sector in May 2009, one component of which was to assess the fertiliser subsidy scheme. HTSPE interviewed farmers, agricultural extension agents and District Agriculture Directors in several different regions in Ghana, and provided the Review team with recommendations for improving the scheme.