M&E Expert for Promotion of MSMEs in the agribusiness sector in Ghana

Ghana belongs to the group of lower middle-income countries. In the last decade, the country has experienced stable economic growth, accompanied by a reduction in the poverty rate. In 2016, about 13 % of the population lived on less than USD 1.90 per day. An additional 3.8 million people are expected to fall into poverty, at least temporarily, as a result of the Corona crisis.

As economic growth driven by primary commodities (oil, gas, gold) depends on volatile global markets and offers little employment potential, government initiatives increasingly target Government initiatives are increasingly aimed at making better use of the potential for value creation. In addition to promoting exports to regional and international markets, the Ghanaian government is placing increasing emphasis on import substitution. The aim is to reduce dependence on food imports and to generate added value from the growing domestic demand for quality products "Made in Ghana".
Since only 20 % of the agricultural and natural products produced in Ghana are processed in the country and, on the other hand, raw materials are imported for processing, there is significant growth and employment potential in the refinement of domestic products. An enormous potential for value creation also lies in the reduction of the sometimes high post-harvest losses and a better utilisation of existing processing capacities of MSMEs, which are currently utilised at an average rate of far below 50 %.