The USAID Financing Ghana Agribusiness Project (USAID- FinGAP) has awarded ten (10) various agribusiness actors for their diverse contributions to growth and development of the sector, especially in the three northern regions.
The awardees are players in areas such as financing, farm aggregation, agro-processing, business advisory and farming. They were presented with plaques and citations. The awards ceremony climaxed the 2017 Women in Agribusiness Development Summit held in Accra.
They are Builsa Community Bank, Tumu Cooperative Credit Union (TCCU), Success for People Microfinance Ltd., JCS Investments Ltd., and Shinkaafa Buni Rice Farmers Association. The rest are Agricare Ghana Limited, Vester Oil Mills, Margaret Awenyogu of Adabi Women’s Group, Victoria Norgbey-President of the Ghana Women in Poultry Value Chain, and Mebel-Ann Akoto-Kwudzo of Okata Farms and Food Processing Ltd.
The citation for Builsa Community Bank (Bucobank) for instance read: “The bank has collaborated with USAID FinGAP to disburse over US$2.3million to over 840 agribusinesses in the Upper East Region. Bucobank has developed innovative methods of supporting female-led enterprises, including the reduction of its lending rate and waiver of commitment and processing fee. The bank has also used social guarantees as a means of overcoming women’s lack of collateral when seeking loans”.
The citation for Success for People Microfinance Ltd. Read: “A female-led microfinance institution disbursed financing to a female-led SMiLE for increased production and processing of rice for both the local and international market. This has helped to substitute imports and impacted the lives of smallholders, including women and the youth, transforming lives in the north of Ghana. The organization, although located in the south, has made great inroads into the north by supporting aggregators and smallholder farmers”.
Madam Mabel-Ann akoto-Kwudzo, CEO of Okata Farms and Processing Ltd.’s citation read: “Okata Farms, a female-led rice production and processing company in the Volta Region, obtained financing from Success for People and the CARI Project through the services of USAID FinGAP BAS providers to support over 850 women and 500 youth in rice production. Her activities have impacted over 3,000 smallholder farmers in the Nkwanta North District of the Volta Region, which falls within USAID FinGAP’s ZOI. Okata Farm’s presence in northern Ghana is helping to make many smallholder farmers food-secure. Okata Farms is the 2017 First Runner-Up – National Best Farmer”.
