The Hunger Project-Ghana has successfully completed the Rural and Agricultural Finance Program (RAFiP)! The RAFiP was launched in November of 2015 as a one-year project funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the governments of Ghana and Italy.
RAFiP aims to improve and promote sustainable livelihoods for the rural poor, particularly women and other vulnerable groups. The program is part of the government of Ghana’s Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy. Under RAFiP, The Hunger Project-Ghana received a grant of US$370,200 to enhance access to agricultural credit and loans.
Specifically, the RAFiP aimed to:
- Enhance capabilities for sustainable delivery of micro-credit to rural populations;
- Improve awareness about the importance of savings and loans in rural communities and;
- Mitigate the risks associated with agricultural financing.
Over the course of 2016, The Hunger Project-Ghana worked closely with community partners to meet project targets within the tight timeframe. By the conclusion of the project, The Hunger Project-Ghana was able to train and register 60 farmer groups as cooperatives, provide 876 people with loans from the epicenter banks, train 14,774 farmers on the importance of agricultural credit and micro-insurance, equip 15 epicenter and community banks with computers and financial management software for effective data management, and register 22 credit unions with the Credit Union Association of Ghana.
These achievements, alongside existing work on enhancing access to microfinance, are key contributions to efforts to reduce rural poverty and empowering communities through sustainable financing solutions. Loans, financial education, cooperatives and credit unions are all vital to reducing poverty and providing rural households with a pathway to building small businesses, enhancing their clout in the marketplace, and financing education and healthcare.
Congratulations to The Hunger Project-Ghana for the successful completion of the RAFiP!
