United States Provides $3 Million Grants to Support Over 10,000 Farmers Affected by Dry Spell and Improve Healthcare Delivery.

Tamale: The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has provided $3 million (over 48 million Ghanaian Cedis) to support over 10,000 farmers affected by the dry spell and improve healthcare delivery in 17 districts in northern Ghana. The funds are being disbursed under the Feed the Future Resilience in Northern Ghana Systems Strengthening Activity to 23 civil society organizations to work in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ghana Health Service.According to Ghana News Agency, the launch of the grant awards took place in Tamale, where the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shaani Alhassan Saibu, emphasized the significance of this initiative. He highlighted that the funding would aid farmers in recovering from the impacts of the July-August dry spell, which devastated several hectares of farmland and threatened food and nutrition security. The Minister expressed gratitude towards the US Government for its continued investment in t he northern region, which has been vital in enhancing the livelihoods of the local population.Ms. Maureen Malave, Nutrition and Social Protection Lead at USAID/Ghana, stated that $1.7 million of the grant would focus on supporting over 10,000 farmers to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices, including dry season farming. The farmers will receive inputs to cultivate nutritious crops such as cowpea, yellow maize, soybean, sesame, and moringa, and will be aided in rearing guinea fowls, roosters, and rabbits as additional sources of income. The grant will also facilitate the transportation of surplus produce to regions experiencing food shortages.The remaining $1.3 million will be allocated towards enhancing nutrition, maternal and child health services, early childhood development, and social protection in northern Ghana. Ms. Malave underscored the importance of this effort, stating, "This is an important step in ensuring that communities not only have access to nutritious food but also good health and social services."Furthermore, Ms. Malave noted that the grants to civil society organizations would complement a previous USAID donation of $1.7 million through the World Food Program to communities affected by the drought. Mr. Selorme Kofi Azumah, Chief of Party for the Feed the Future Resilience in Northern Ghana Systems Strengthening Activity, added that the activities supported by the grant would bolster the Government's initiatives to improve household nutrition and resilience.The Feed the Future Resilience in Northern Ghana Systems Strengthening Activity is a five-year project funded by USAID and implemented by partners including Abt Global, Integrated Social Development Center, Ghana Developing Communities Association, and Youth Advocacy on Rights and Opportunities.