Takoradi, October 2, GNA – SNV Ghana has partnered with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), as means of rolling out its GrEEn project, to increase and improve job creation in the agricultural sector in the Western Region.
The partnership would among others build the capacity of not only the youth but also women and overseas returnees through a project dubbed, “Opportunities for Youth Employment” (OYE).
The Project is an avenue to give basic skills training and offer hands on experience through an internship programme in the Ahanta West, Jomoro, Nzema East and Wassa Amenfi East Municipalities.
In line with this, a day’s orientation programme was organized in Takoradi to sensitize representatives from the Western Regional Department of Agriculture as well as District Agricultural Directors on the OYE initiative.
Speaking at the programme, Ms Gifty Afi Cudjoe, the Skills Development Advisor (Ashanti Region), SNV, said it was necessary to create such opportunities to deal with the rise in lack of appropriate skills and skills mismatch in the job market.
She said the initiative would target the training of beneficiaries in requisite skills at the push employability phase, link them with the right host firms through internships during the Match Market linkage stage and identify and link individuals who already have basic knowledge in a particular field to gain more experience at the Pull market system phase.
Ms Cudjoe indicated that these phases would be rolled out through a comprehensive curriculum in the Agriculture, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Renewable Energy sectors.
She explained that the initiative, to be rolled out within a minimum of two weeks to a maximum of two months, would include the payment of stipends and an insurance package to the beneficiaries.
For his part, Mr Wisdom Konwuruk, Agricultural Officer, SNV, stressed the need for MoFA to provide technical backstopping and support to green businesses by helping beneficiaries to learn and practice good agronomy and post-harvest practices that would protect the environment.
Touching on their role, he indicated that SNV would continue to assist in raising awareness about MoFA’s activities as well as assist beneficiaries who were already into crop production or animal rearing to obtain agro-certification for their products.
Mr Konwuruk said the beneficiaries would be given the technical skills needed for their field work to enable them create their own green businesses after the training.
Mr Patrick Akowuah, the Western Regional Agricultural Director, lauded the initiative and acknowledged that it would increase agriculture jobs as well as food security.
“Let us see the best way we can make such an initiative more sustainable not only for the remaining years of the green project implementation but look beyond for the enormous benefits it can offer us in years to come,” he said.
SNV Ghana is a Not-for-profit international development organisation that makes a lasting difference in the lives of people living in poverty by helping them raise income and access basic services.
GNA