Tamale, March 13, GNA – The Project Implementation Unit Office for the Capacity Development of Farmer Based Cooperatives and Organisations (FBCs/FBOs) in Northern Ghana, funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has officially closed in Tamale.
The closure followed an online exit meeting, which was held on 19th February, 2021, between KOICA and the key stakeholder institutions collaborating on the project, which included the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations and the Department of Cooperatives.
Mr Clement Wumlara Yakubu, Operations Coordinator for the KOICA FBCs/FBOs, who spoke on behalf of Professor YOON Haejin, Project Manager, during the ceremony to close the project office in Tamale, recounted some significant achievements recorded under the project.
Mr Yakubu said among other things the project met its target of supporting the cooperative movement in Northern Ghana by collaborating with stakeholders to execute a number of activities under its six main components, which included Training of Farmer Leaders, Training of Trainers, Invitational Training, Networking Marketing and Fair, Pilot Project and Policy Advisory and Advocacy.
He cited the comparatives significant reduction in the Poverty Probability Index (PPI) among beneficiary households and communities as key achievement under the project.
The PPI, which assessed the quality of life of the project participants at the project’s end-line survey, revealed that poverty among households of beneficiary cooperatives reduced by 2.6 points, while households of non-beneficiary cooperative members recorded only 0.2 points in poverty reduction.
The office closure ceremony was climaxed by the presentation of assets used during the project to some key stakeholders including the Department of Cooperatives’ Head Office, the Savannah and North East Regional Departments of Cooperatives, the Ghana Cooperative Council, the Happy Farmers’ Cooperative Marketing Society Limited of Sagnarigu Municipality and the Garu Mustard Seed Faith Trust Cooperative Farmers Society Ltd.
The assets presented to the stakeholders included vehicles, ICT equipment and laptops, office furniture and general office accessories valued at over $70,000.
The gesture was aimed at augmenting the resource base of the institutions to enhance their capacity to sustain and improve on the project gains and outcomes.
Mr Roland Anyana, Upper East Regional Director of Cooperatives and Acting North East Regional Director of Cooperatives, who received the assets on behalf of beneficiaries, expressed gratitude to KOICA for the gesture and its continued support to the cooperative movement in the country.
Mr Anyana was optimistic that the outcome of this four-year collaboration on the project would be sustained and even scaled up after the project’s closure.
