The European Union, the Government of Ghana and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization launch 10 million Euro project to address food security in Northern Ghana

The EU-funded, FAO-led project will be strategically concentrated in the northern regions of Ghana, where it aims to achieve the following outcomes:

1. More economically sustainable and inclusive food systems: empowering communities to build resilient and profitable food production systems.
2. Reinforced environmental sustainability of food systems: promoting practices that protect the environment and conserve natural resources.
3. Enhanced social sustainability and gender responsiveness of food systems: ensuring equitable access to food and nutrition, focusing on women and vulnerable populations.
4. Improved governance and institutional sustainability of food systems: strengthening governance structures to ensure the long-term viability of food systems.

This vital financial contribution by the EU reaffirms the importance of international solidarity in addressing global food security challenges aggravated by Russia aggression against Ukraine. It reflects the shared commitment to ensuring food security, reducing poverty and promoting sustainable development in Ghana.

EU ambassador to Ghana, Irchad Razaaly said: "This 10 million Euro emergency measure has been mobilized in record time and represents the commitment and solidarity of the EU and its Member States in the face of rising cost of food and to safeguard food security and transitioning to more resilient food systems in Ghana."

"The joint collaboration between FAO, the European Union and the Government of Ghana shows our commitment to rural families in Ghana and ending hunger and malnutrition while supporting the transition to more sustainable agrifood systems," said Yurdi Yasmi, FAO Deputy Regional Representative for Africa and Representative in Ghana.

The allocated funds will primarily focus on the sustainable development of crucial agribusiness value chains, including maize, millet, sorghum, groundnut, vegetables (tomatoes), poultry and piggery. These efforts complement the Government of Ghana's initiatives, such as Planting for Jobs Phase 2, to mitigate the adverse impacts of rising food, fertilizer, and fuel prices in vulnerable areas, in order to help alleviate poverty, hunger and malnutrition.

"The Government appreciates the EU and over ever reliable partner, the FAO, coming in at the time when the need to refocus our food systems deliver on nutrition and resilience is being consummated into the Planting for Food and Jobs, Phase II programme," said Hon. Bryan Acheampong, Minister for Food and Agriculture.

Over three agricultural seasons, the EU-funded project aims to support at least 10,000 households, benefiting approximately 6,000 maize farmers, 2,400 millet farmers, and 4,200 sorghum farmers in targeted districts. Women, youth, and value chain actors will receive capacity-building support, access to post-harvest technologies, and training on climate change adaptation, market access, financial services, and pest and disease management.

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For media inquiries, please contact:

David Youngs

Communications Lead

FAO Ghana

David.Youngs@fao.org

+233 (0)24 4845644

Abdul-Kudus Husein

Press and Information Officer

European Union in Ghana

Abdul-Kudus.HUSEIN@eeas.europa.eu

+233 (0)20 1889118

About EU Food Security measure

• The world is facing a global food crisis, aggravated by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The Global Report on Food Crises estimated in 2022 that up to 205.1 million people face high levels of acute food insecurity in 45 countries.
• Back in 2022, in a "Team Europe" approach, the European Commission mobilised €600 million from the reserves of the European Development Fund to address the current food security crisis aggravated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This response was agreed in a record time unanimously by all 27 EU Member States.
• As part of the Team Europe's Response to Global Food Insecurity, the funding aims at supporting people in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, where the humanitarian needs are the highest and where programmes to sustainably enhance food security and resilience were identified. It includes four strands of action to be implemented jointly with the Member States: 1. Solidarity: emergency relief and affordability; 2. Sustainable production and resilience; 3. Trade: facilitating food trade; 4. Effective multilateralism.
• With the additional €600 million, the EU envisages to allocate for food security and food systems programmes in partner countries of €7.7 billion until 2024 worldwide. This also includes an estimated €2.2 billion in immediate humanitarian food and nutrition assistance for the most vulnerable countries and a further €5 billion to invest in the medium to longer term in sustainable food systems.