Northern Rural Growth Programme

Northern Rural Growth Programme (NGRP)

NGRP is implemented by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to contribute to agricultural and rural growth and poverty reduction in northern Ghana, where many of the poorest Ghanaians live.

The programme works with poor rural people to develop income-generating agricultural activities supplementing subsistence farming, which currently predominates in the north. NGRP also supports the process through which the resulting commodities are directed towards markets in southern Ghana and abroad.

Ultimately, the goal is to achieve sustainable rural livelihoods and food security in northern Ghana, particularly for people who are dependent on marginal lands, rural women and other vulnerable groups.

NGRP focuses on strengthening the linkages among the various actors in agricultural value chains – including producers and their organizations, suppliers, service providers, financial institutions, aggregators, ‘off-takers' (such as processors, traders and exporters), researchers and administrators. The programme supports private-public partnership arrangements to ensure smallholders' access to finance and markets. It backs up these arrangements with technical assistance and institutional support, as well as investments in productive infrastructure and technology.

Source: IFAD