The joint team on one of the farms
A joint team from the Mastercard Foundation and Agri-Impact Limited has visited implementation sites of the Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) Programme in Bono, Ashanti, and Greater Accra regions.
In Sunyani, Bono Region, the team toured NAPLE Betta’s plant, an anchor partner that supplies poultry feed for the HAPPY Broilers programme.
CEO of Yedent Agro Group and NAPLE Betta, Samuel Ntim, emphasised how the HAPPY Programme has revitalised Ghana’s poultry sector by enabling consistent broiler production and reducing reliance on imports.
Led by Judith Akoto, Impact Lead at Mastercard Foundation, the team visited Jobyco poultry processing plant, St. Charles Hatchery, and GINAACO Farms in Dormaa, where they interacted with young participants and managers.
They also visited the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), where a former pigsty was transformed into a broiler production house under the HAPPY Programme, engaging with enthusiastic youth involved in the project.
The team then visited the National Service Secretariat’s farm in Sekyere Afram Plains, Ashanti Region, where they monitored progress in tomato production and interacted with personnel and local youth involved in the project.
At Kasunya in the Shai-Osudoku district of Accra, the team toured Agro Kings’ rice farms, where founder and Chief Farmer Nana Owusu-Achau highlighted how the programme has reduced land rental costs and provided working capital to the youth in the form of starter packs in agro inputs and other services enabling Agro Kings to invest in further land development and irrigation, allowing more youth to be on boarded.
Head of Entrepreneurship Development at Mastercard Foundation Ghana, Gottfried Odamtten-Sowah, expressed his excitement after the tour, praising the programme for providing wraparound services like financing, market access, and capacity building.
“I’m blown away. This is an incredible model. To a large extent, this is exactly what we’ve been talking about—working with young people, providing them with wraparound services like access to finance, markets, capacity building, and helping them transition into dignified and fulfilling work,” he added.
A Business Desk Report