Food Security Through Cooperatives in Northern Ghana

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) increased economic stability and higher level of gender equitable economic productivity for women and men in target communities; (2) increased levels of services / support to women and men members provided by credit unions and co-operatives; and (3) increased awareness and responsiveness of government to food security issues raised by smallholder women and men farmers.

Results achieved as of March 2017 include: (1) 49,669 beneficiaries (29,751 women and 19,918 men), representing 18% higher than total project target, were reached with project interventions in agriculture production, nutrition, co-operative development and access to finance; (2) a 28% increase in number of households considered food secure, from a baseline of 70% to 98% in project districts; (3) 123% increase in average incomes of beneficiary households over the baseline income of CAD$238 per year; (4) reduction of stunting among children under 5 years from targeted households from 35.5% to 28%, decrease in underweight from 15% to 11.5%, and a decrease in wasting from 8.7% to 5.5%; (5) increased number of women elected to leadership positions in the co-operatives, with women now occupying 46% of all leadership positions. This has enabled the active participation of women in decision making and support in negotiating for more gender-equitable services; and (6) all nine credit unions working with the project make an average monthly profit of CAD$8,809. These results have contributed to improved food security, and increased incomes and economic stability among beneficiaries in project districts.