World Bank cushions Ghana’s economy with $210m
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor has signed three World Bank funded projects worth US$210 million to support the Government of Ghana’s efforts to sustain economic growth, and maintain its middle income status.
These are Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (US$100 million), West African Agriculture Productivity Program (US$60 million) and Urban Water project (Additional Financing of US$50 million).
The Commercial Agriculture Project seeks to facilitate access to land, strengthen Ghana’s investment promotion infrastructure for attracting agro-business investors, and promote public private partnerships and small-holder linkages in the Accra Plains, the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) Zone.
The Government of Ghana is currently implementing a nation-wide Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy (FASDEP II – 2010 2015) focusing on six priority themes: Food Security and Emergency Preparedness; Increased Growth in Incomes; Increased Competitiveness and Enhanced Integration into Domestic and International Markets; Sustainable Management of Land and Environment; Science and Technology Applied in Food and Agriculture Development; Improved Institutional Coordination.
The Commercial Agricultural Project, which is designed to support the implementation of above priorities, is made up of four main components including: strengthening investment promotion infrastructure and facilitating secure access to land (US$11.8 million; to be complemented by USAID co-financing of US$5.9 million).
This component, according to the Minister of Finance, will promote a secure investment climate that clarifies and strengthens the rights and obligations of investors, government and affected communities.
And also to support an improved mechanism for facilitating access to land by reducing the search costs to potential investors through an expansion of a database of land suitable and available for investors and by building on nascent mechanisms for actively matching potential investors with suitable land owners.
Another component of the commercial agric project is Securing Public Private Partnerships (PPPS) and small-holder linkages in the Accra Plains (US$45.4 million) – This component will conclude transactions for PPPs in an irrigation investment in the Accra Plains.
The project area includes the existing Kpong Irrigation Project as well as an expansion of an additional 7,000ha under a PPP arrangement, inclusive of commercial anchor farms and associated out-growers.
The West African Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) is a regional project designed to scale-up the generation, dissemination and adoption of improved technologies in Ghana’s priority agricultural commodity areas aligned with the sub-regions top agricultural commodity priorities.
In order to reach this objective, the Project will strengthen regional cooperation in generation of technology, and scale-up dissemination and training programs focused on regional and national priority commodities.
It is made up of four components, realigned to support the implementation of country specific Agricultural Investment Programs, such as Ghana’s Medium Term Agricultural Sector Investment Program (METASIP).
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