Background

Though Ghana has made significant development progress in the last decade and is often hailed as a success story in African development, progress has not been equally shared between the north and south of Ghana. Northern Ghana[1] is affected by its remoteness from Ghana’s economic core, fragile soil fertility, one rather than two growing seasons, volatile climatic conditions, and a history of marginalization from the national agenda.  As a consequence, the three northern regions of Ghana have higher incidences of poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition.

Although the Government of Ghana (GoG) recognizes the importance of improving the productivity of smallholders in order to transform the agricultural sector, an emphasis on commercial agriculture and market-oriented growth risks excluding poorer, more food insecure smallholders in northern Ghana. These farmers often face entry barriers stemming from their low quality and quantity of agricultural production, limited access to improved inputs and extension support, lack of access to credit, few productive assets, weak links to markets, and aversion to risk.

There is therefore a need for interventions that directly support poorer men and women smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana to reduce their vulnerability and food insecurity.

Funded by CFTC, the Resilient and Sustainable Livelihoods Transformation (RESULT) Project in Northern Ghana is a 6 year (2012-2018), $19 million project that is being implemented by CFTC in partnership with the Association of Church-Based Development Projects (ACDEP).

The Project addresses the four basic elements of food security by increasing food availability, access, utilization and stability (i.e. resilience). It is based on proven approaches developed by CFTC and ACDEP, integrating food security and sustainable livelihoods interventions that increase adaptation to climate change and reduce vulnerability to disasters.

Programme Purpose/Objectives

The ultimate outcome of the RESULT Project is to enhance food security and resilience for 21,000 poor male and female smallholder farmers and their households in northern Ghana. This ultimate outcome is to be achieved through two intermediate outcomes: 

1. increased, diversified and more equitable agricultural production; and
2. increased, diversified and more equitable incomes and assets.

The RESULT Project supports up to 120,000 individuals from an estimated 15,000 food insecure and vulnerable households (based on average of 8 people per household) as direct beneficiaries, which is 18% of the population that is food insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity (680,000) in Northern Ghana[2].

Project Outcomes

Ultimate Outcome	Enhanced food security and resilience for poor male and female smallholder farmers and their households in northern Ghana
2 Intermediate Outcomes	Increased, diversified, and more equitable agricultural production for male and female smallholder farmers and their households Increased, diversified, and more equitable incomes and assets for rural, food insecure men and women and their households
5 Immediate Outcomes	Project has five Immediate Outcomes: Improved skills and knowledge of men and women in appropriate and sustainable crop, animal and aquaculture management practices. ii.Increased access for men and women to inputs and improved technology for crop, animal and aquaculture production. iii.Increased capacity of RESULT staff, ACDEP, government partners and implementing organizations and communities to more effectively promote and support gender equality and environment/climate change adaptation and disaster risk mitigation considerations. iv.Improved skills, knowledge and access to financial services and inputs by Income Generation Groups (IGGs) to support agricultural and non-agricultural income generating activities. v.Increased access for men and women to markets for selected agricultural and non-agricultural products.

Project Implementation Strategy 

The project strategy is based on proven approaches developed by CFTC and ACDEP, integrating food security and sustainable livelihoods interventions that increase adaptation to climate change and reduce vulnerability to disasters. RESULT Project implementation strategy is all embracing, including:

Targeted – The RESULT Project targets poor, food insecure households that have few assets and sources of income, and are therefore vulnerable to endogenous (e.g. illness or death in the family) or exogenous (e.g. droughts or floods) shocks and stresses.  These households are either chronically food insecure, or easily become food insecure when a shock occurs.

Integrated - The RESULT Project provides an integrated set of interventions designed to strengthen and diversify livelihood activities through increased, diversified and more equitable crop, animal and aquaculture production (Intermediate Outcome 1) and increased, diversified and more equitable incomes and assets from both agricultural and non-agricultural activities (Intermediate Outcome 2) – in turn increasing the capacity of households to produce or buy food to meet their nutritional requirements. 

Flexible - the RESULT Project is flexible in its approach, adapting to the assets and opportunities that are available to the targeted households while overcoming some of the common constraints and challenges faced by those households.

Responsive - The RESULT Project is responsive to the needs, strengths and interests of beneficiaries, both men and women, while also increasing their knowledge, skills and assets in areas of relevance to their livelihoods.

Equitable – The RESULT Project addresses equitable access to and control over the benefits of the project between men and women, as a means of ensuring that the objectives are achieved.

Linkages – The RESULT Project links to key stakeholders  - including Government ministries, non-governmental and community-based organizations, financial institutions, marketing bodies, and suppliers - to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of the project interventions. It will also liaise with other food security and agricultural programming in Northern Ghana to reduce duplication and increase synergies – programs such as the Northern Rural Growth Program and the Greater Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW) project.

Sustainable – The RESULT Project promotes the economic, environmental, and financial sustainability of its interventions to ensure that the results achieved can be maintained over the longer term.

The RESULT project is in full alignment with CFTC Food Security Strategy, Ghana Country Programming Framework, and CIDA’s Policy for Environmental Sustainability and Gender Equality Policy.

CFTC, ACDEP’s and others’ experience indicates that food insecurity in northern Ghana can be addressed through an integrated set of interventions; targeted at poorer, food insecure smallholder households; supporting and expanding their livelihoods; gradually building up and strengthening their asset base; and providing greater resilience in the future.[3]  Interventions need to be designed not only to increase agricultural production and productivity and related incomes, but also diversify income sources to smooth income over the lean season and reduce dependence on rain-fed agriculture.

With the use of appropriate inputs, extension services, and sustainable and appropriate technologies – which take the needs of women into consideration - it is estimated that yields for key crops in Northern Ghana (maize, rice, millet and sorghum) could be increased by over two hundred percent.^[4]  While these potential yield increases are hypothetical, recent programs and projects have realized substantial increases – for example, the Northern Rural Growth Program reported a 150% increase in maize yields from 2009 to 2012.[5]  Similar improvements in animal production and productivity can be realized from the provision of improved breeds, improved animal management practices, and the extension of veterinary services.  Support to aquaculture can improve fish production for both food consumption and for income.  Alternative income-generating activities that are less dependent on farming can further increase the resiliency of smallholders and reduce their vulnerability to food insecurity. 

When faced with food insecurity, households adopt various coping mechanisms to deal with food shortages. These are often negative coping strategies that include selling animals and household assets, reducing the frequency of meals, relying on less preferred or cheaper foods, and prioritizing feeding of particular family members. Not only do negative coping strategies affect household health and deplete accumulated assets, they also make households more vulnerable to further stressors and shocks. Targeted interventions to increase the resilience of farming households would prevent them from engaging in negative coping strategies. Increasing and diversifying incomes and assets moves farmers to a level of resilience where they can deal with shocks without falling below a level at which they cannot cope with additional stressors, and graduates them out of cycles of food insecurity, poverty, and high levels of vulnerability.

The project is addressing barriers to food security by working with local agricultural experts (Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to introduce more effective farming techniques, and providing key resources like seeds, tools and livestock that are helping farmers to increase their harvests.

RESULT Project addresses gender barriers to food insecurity through the following key approaches: promoting equality; targeting and tailoring interventions to women and to poorer female headed households (FHHs); addressing women’s practical needs and strategic interests; promoting participation and empowerment; encouraging collective action through groups; supporting transformative change; promoting an enabling environment for capacity development; supporting the human rights of women and girls; and building and strengthening networks and linkages among women’s groups. 

The RESULT Project will rely on results-based management systems, tools and techniques consistent with CFTC’s Results Based Management (RBM) Policy. This means:

• Defining realistic expected results and targets based on appropriate analysis and benchmarks;
• Clearly identifying project beneficiaries and designing interventions to meet their needs;
• Monitoring progress towards results and targets and the resources used through the use of appropriate indicators;
• Identifying and managing risks while bearing in mind the expected results and necessary resources; and
• Increasing knowledge by a continuous review of progress, capturing lessons learned and integrating them into planning and decision-making.

RESULT’s approach to RBM will be based on partnerships and shared accountability for results, relying on participatory processes with beneficiaries, ACDEP, implementing organizations and key stakeholders.

Key Activities

RESULT project activities relate to each of the Project’s Immediate Outcomes

 

Immediate Outcome	Activities
Improved skills and knowledge in appropriate and sustainable crop, animal and aquaculture management practices	Assess the needs and capacities of beneficiaries and the potential opportunities for appropriate and sustainable crop, animal and aquaculture production, consumption and marketing.  The crops supported are likely to include a mix of staple crops and legumes as well as dry season crops; the animals supported are likely to include poultry (chickens and guinea fowl), small ruminants and pigs; and the fish species supported is likely to be tilapia. Select, train and equip community agriculture workers (CAWs) to support the delivery of training and extension services to crop farmers.  The CAWs will be linked to Agriculture Extension Agents (AEAs) for support. Select, train and equip community livestock workers (CLWs) to provide veterinary services and animal husbandry training and extension support to animal farmers. The CLWs will be linked to MoFA’s veterinary service officers for support.  RESULT Project staff or implementing organizations will deliver aquaculture extension services. Group crop, animal and fish farmers for the purpose of communication, information dissemination and the delivery of training; and select lead farmers for each group. Design and deliver training programs to these farmer groups.  The training programs will cover sustainable crop, animal and aquaculture management practices; recording and analyzing cost of production data; financing production; post-harvest or production handling, processing and marketing; and integrating relevant gender, environment and climate change adaptation considerations.
Increased access for men and women to inputs and improved technology for crop, animal and aquaculture production	Establish criteria for the provision of inputs and technology including beneficiary selection criteria and expected beneficiary contributions (e.g. commitment, participation in training, labour, materials, cash, pass on of seeds or animals).  Monitor that contributions are provided and requirements are met.  Assess and identify respective needs of women and men for appropriate labour-saving tools, equipment and technology. Promote innovative technology and practices that are designed to address women’s technology and labour constraints. Procure, distribute and train women and men on their use and maintenance.  Establish relevant and appropriate start-up packages for various crop, animal and aquaculture activities.  Procure, distribute and train women and men on the use of the start-up packages.  Support the rehabilitation or construction of appropriate crop storage facilities, animal housing and aquaculture cages for women and men through training, selected materials, and follow-up coaching.  Assess the local level weather forecasting needs of women and men farmers. Establish or strengthen linkages with MoFA and Meteorological Services to access and disseminate relevant weather information.  Improve and strengthen local-level weather forecasting systems through training and equipment (e.g. barometers). Assess and identify the respective needs of female and male farmers for water resources and the availability and accessibility of water resources in the project sites. Improve access to rainwater harvesting equipment and micro-scale irrigation systems (e.g. treadle pumps, small-scale drip irrigation) where appropriate for groups of farmers and subject to negotiated agreements on use and maintenance. Assess and identify respective capacities and needs of men and women to access financial services (savings, credit and insurance).  Form or strengthen informal savings and loans groups to support men and women’s crop, animal and aquaculture activities. Establish or facilitate linkages between savings and loans groups and formal financial institutions.
Increased capacity of RESULT staff, ACDEP, government partners and implementing organizations and communities to more effectively promote and support gender equality and environment/climate change adaptation and disaster risk mitigation considerations.	Assess and identify capacities and needs of ACDEP, RESULT Project, government partners and implementing organizations on gender equality and women’s empowerment, and environment/CCA and DRM.  Design and deliver appropriate training courses. Assess and identify the capacities and needs of the targeted communities in environment/CCA and DRM.  Design and deliver appropriate training. Assess and identify the capacities and needs of the targeted communities in gender equality. Facilitate linkages with appropriate institutions and stakeholders (e.g. Women in Agriculture Development (WIAD), Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MoWAC), local and international organizations, etc.) for best practices regarding women in agriculture and gender equality.  Adapt or design appropriate gender equality campaigns and workshops with community, district and regional leaders and decision-makers and community members to engage men and women in transformative change for women’s empowerment and to demonstrate the benefits of supporting women. Deliver training to communities on nutrition and gender-responsive food utilization by supporting women’s lead role in family nutrition. Foster linkages with organizations (such as WIAD, Ghana Health Services, local and international organizations, etc.) that deliver training packages addressing the nutritional needs of the family, including intra-household food distribution practices, food safety and utilization, and the importance of safe water, sanitation and personal hygiene to nutritional outcomes.
Improved skills, knowledge and access to financial services and inputs by Income generation groups (IGGs) to support agricultural and non-agricultural income generating activities	Assess the needs and capacities of beneficiaries and the potential opportunities for agricultural and non-agricultural income-generating activities that would generate increased, diversified and more equitable incomes. These income-generating activities require a higher level of inputs, production or marketing than what individual farmers would be pursuing (under Immediate Outcome 100). Income Generation Groups (IGGs) will therefore be formed to pursue these identified activities. Design and deliver training to IGGs in leadership, organizational development, business management, technology applications, bookkeeping and marketing. Support IGGs to develop business plans. Promote women’s roles in decision-making by supporting confidence building measures. Establish linkages with relevant organizations to deliver functional literacy and numeracy training for IGG members as required. Form or strengthen savings and loans groups to support the business plans of IGGs. Provide training and support. Establish or facilitate linkages between savings and loans groups and formal financial institutions. Assess and identify processing equipment and technology needs of IGGs in accordance with business plans. Negotiate asset transfer agreements with IGGs that specify the conditions that must be met before transfer of the asset (including any IGG contribution in cash or in-kind) and that outlines requirements for the use and maintenance of the equipment.  Procure and distribute the equipment and provide training on its use and maintenance.
Increased access for men and women to markets for selected agricultural and non-agricultural products	Conduct market studies to identify agricultural and non-agricultural market opportunities for female and male farmers and IGGs and facilitate market linkages. Link female and male farmers and IGGs to aggregators (purchasers who source produce from farmers at the farm gate or in local markets, and sell to bulk traders or to more distant markets) or buyers. Design and deliver training to farmer groups on post-harvest handling (sorting, grading, bulking, etc.) and to IGGs on value addition for selected markets to improve the value of products. Establish linkages to market information systems for farmer groups and IGGs to access timely and appropriate market price information.

Project Scope 

RESULT Project targets 150 communities in 7 districts (Lawra, Jirapa, Talensi, Bongo, Kassena/Nankana West, Navrongo Municipal, and Nabdam) in two regions (Upper East and Upper West). Currently the project operates in 84 communities in four of the seven districts while plans are far advanced to expand to 66 communities in the remaining three (3) districts.

Other districts were not selected because they had comparatively low rates of food insecurity, were predominantly urban rather than rural, or were the location for similar major donor programs (e.g. USAID’s RING Project, MEDA’s GROW Project, or the Millennium Villages Project)

The RESULT Project supports up to 120,000 people of an estimated 15,000 food insecure and vulnerable households (based on average of 8 people per household) as direct beneficiaries, which is 18% of the population that is food insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity (680,000) in Northern Ghana. The table below shows distribution of project direct beneficiaries on the basis of sectors supported by the project:

Outcome/Activity	Estimated total no. of farmers	Estimated no. of male farmers	% Male farmers	Estimated no. of female farmers	% Female farmers
Enhanced food security and resilience	15,000 households
Increased, diversified and more equitable agricultural production	21,000	8,400	40%	12,600	60%
Crop production	21,000	8,400	40%	12,600	60%
Animal production	7,500	1,500	20	6,000	80%
Aquaculture	1,000	400	40%	600	60%
Increased, diversified and more equitable incomes and assets	5,000	750	15%	4,250	85%

 

Indirect or intermediate beneficiaries of RESULT project include:

-          300 community agriculture workers (CAWs, target of 50% female) who will be trained and equipped to deliver crop extension services to beneficiaries.

-          50 community livestock workers (CLWs, target of 50% female) who will be trained and equipped to deliver simple veterinary services and animal husbandry training and support to beneficiaries.

-          20 ACDEP staff who are not project staff and who will be mentored and trained to improve their program management, gender, environment, climate change, and disaster risk mitigation knowledge and skills.

-          About 50 RESULT project staff who upgrade their knowledge and skills through involvement in project delivery and receive additional training or mentorship on gender and environment issues.

-          200 (20 per district) AEAs, Veterinary Service Officers, Fisheries Officers, Gender Desk Officers, and Environment Officers and 60 (20 per region) other government officials from the District Assemblies (specifically the District Planning Officers), Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), ARI, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), MoWAC, Department of Cooperatives, Department of Small Business, Meteorological Department, Water Resources Commission, etc. (target of 20% women) who will be involved in the design and delivery of agricultural extension or business development training.  These officers/officials will be trained or mentored to incorporate gender, environment, climate change adaptation and disaster risk mitigation into their services.

-          100 (10 per organization) staff from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) that will be contracted as implementing organizations in specific localities or for specific purposes – e.g. for mobilization or training of trainers (TOT) for village savings and loans groups, business planning, functional literacy and numeracy training, climate change adaptation and disaster risk mitigation, etc. These persons will be trained or mentored to incorporate gender equality, environment, climate change adaptation and disaster risk mitigation into their programming.

Finally, the RESULT Project will indirectly benefit community leaders and members in the 150 targeted communities through awareness, training and increased employment opportunities; and private sector input suppliers, aggregators and buyers.

The project specifically benefits women through a variety of targeted initiatives. Women make up the majority of farmers receiving support to increase their crop yields, and of the 5,000 people receiving direct support for income generating activities, 85 percent are women. Women (80% of beneficiaries) are also receiving livestock, and training to keep their animals healthy. This will improve the income and resiliency of some of the region’s most marginalized people and increase their economic clout in the community

staff strength on programme / project

With project offices set up in Tamale, Bolgatanga and Wa, RESULT Project will have a staff strength of about 50 with opportunity to add on based on expansion to new districts and communities. The project also enjoys periodic technical support from ACDEP and CFTC headquarters.

Tamale Office: This serves as the Project headquarters. It is headed by the Project Director and assisted by Finance Manager, Senior Administrator, Deputy Director and a cadre of senior-level technical specialists in Gender Equality, Climate Change Adaptation/Environment and Monitoring and Evaluation. These specialists provide coordination and technical assistance to project interventions in their area of expertise, and capacity development support to more junior project staff employed in the regions.

Based in this office is also a cadre of senior-level technical specialists in Crops, Livestock, Aquaculture, and Marketing and Income-Generating Activities. These specialists provide coordination and technical assistance to project interventions in their areas of expertise and capacity development support to regional project staff.

Bolgatanga and Wa Offices: These serve as regional offices for Upper East and Upper West Regions respectively. Headed by a Regional Co-ordinator, Regional staff includes crops, livestock, income-generating, gender and M&E officers as well as administrators, accountants and drivers. The regional staff constitute the field operation teams for the RESULT Project. They work in partnership and close collaboration with relevant decentralized departments (especially Department of Agriculture of the District or Municipal Assemblies) and other agencies in their respective regions in reaching out to project beneficiaries with project interventions.

Details of contact persons (Programme Head)

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RESULT Project Director

RESULT Tamale Office, ACDEP Annex B, R.C. 70, Gumani Road

P.O. Box 1411,

Tamale, N/R Ghana

Tel:  03722025119 Ext. 151

Cell:  -mail:

 Gordon K. Ekekpi (Mr.)

Deputy Project Director

RESULT Tamale Office, ACDEP Annex B, R.C. 70, Gumani Road

P.O. Box 1411,

Tamale, N/R Ghana

Cell:  0244-838-978

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.