By Wisdom JONNY-NUEKPE
The Mastercard Foundation and its partners have announced plans to invest in four key value chains: rice, soybean, poultry and tomatoes. The investment is expected to lead to a significant increase in production and value addition for these commodities.
Known as the Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) programme, Mastercard is supporting Agri-Impact to collaborate with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to harness the university’s expertise and its E-Learning infrastructure to transform and create positive outcomes in these key and selected value chains.
Over the programme’s duration, the initiative aims to increase production by 180,000 metric tonnes per annum for each value chain and generate a projected revenue of US$200million each year, while reducing imports by 10 percent.
The HAPPY programme, spanning four years, aims to use technology and innovation to empower young individuals. Its primary goal is to create dignified job opportunities for 326,000 young people, with a focus on investing in women and individuals with physical disabilities.
By leveraging industry expertise in each value chain, the initiative aims to boost production, productivity, value addition, market access, enterprise development and address policy issues related to youth involvement in agriculture.
At the partnership ceremony, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Agri-Impact, Dan Aquaye, emphasised the transformative potential of ICT in agriculture, highlighting its role in providing real-time information and data for informed decision-making.
Deputy Group CEO for Agri-Impact, Julie Asante-Dartey, reiterated that the initiative aims to empower farmers by providing them with the knowledge and resources needed to effectively integrate ICT into agriculture. This integration is expected to boost profitability and enhance competitiveness within the agricultural value chain.
Professor Ben Banful, Provost of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at KNUST, on his part, expressed the university’s commitment to the programme’s success, promising to work diligently with all stakeholders to achieve the set goals.
