[{"bbox": [96, 178, 1136, 366], "category": "Text", "text": "**The agribusiness part of the action (component 1 and 2)** will support the sustainable development of a selected number of crop value chains, i.e. shea, soybean, vegetables and beekeeping, or alternative ones should opportunities arise. It will build on the results of the 11th EDF support to agriculture in northern Ghana (EU-Ghana Agriculture Programme) and promote agroecological systems. The goal is to enhance the green agriculture transition of Ghana. It will be achieved by (i) improving the sustainability and climate-resilience of agricultural production in northern Ghana (component 1) and (ii) improving access to markets for sustainably-grown produce in northern Ghana (component 2)."}, {"bbox": [96, 390, 1136, 549], "category": "Text", "text": "**The forestry and cocoa part of the action (component 3)** will include activities that prevent deforestation and promote reforestation on one side, and support sustainable production of cocoa on the other. Particular emphasis will be put on the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA) via accompanying measures. Another focus will be on landscape restoration and promoting agroforestry. For cocoa, the action will implement, at local level, the relevant elements of the Road Map of the Alliance on Sustainable Cocoa launched in June 2022."}, {"bbox": [96, 576, 1136, 657], "category": "Text", "text": "Overall, the action will contribute to tackling poverty in rural areas, where production takes place and climate change has the biggest impact, and where measures redressing gender imbalances and targeting youth are more urgently required."}, {"bbox": [96, 657, 1136, 734], "category": "Text", "text": "On the longer term, the action intends to strengthen Ghana's capacity to bring direct and sustainable benefits to local communities from productive sectors in the rural areas and to enforce environmental protection and climate resilience."}, {"bbox": [96, 767, 1136, 1114], "category": "Text", "text": "This action is aligned with the external dimension of the EU Green Deal Strategy and its Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It will contribute to the Global Europe targets on climate change, biodiversity and human development. The action contributes to the Global Gateway, in particular through its flagships: the sustainable cocoa initiative; the plant-based proteins initiative; the Great Green Wall (GGW) - especially its first pillar - and NaturAfrica, which will put Team Europe partners on the map. Moreover, the action concurs with the Government's policies 'Planting for Food and Jobs', the 'Re-greening Ghana' agenda and the Ghana Nationally Determined Contribution, that target the economic growth of the northern regions, which are more affected by climate change, also contributing to the active involvement of Ghana in the GGW initiative. The action will also facilitate the implementation of forthcoming EU due diligence legislations, in particular the regulation proposal relating to deforestation and forest degradation, and the directive for corporate social responsibility. Evidence-based research will be key in this respect particularly to better know how to promote sustainable agriculture production and the management of natural resources in a context of climate change affecting particularly countries in West Africa such as Ghana."}, {"bbox": [96, 1138, 1136, 1246], "category": "Text", "text": "This action will leverage the activities and results of the Ghana component (EUR 10 million) of the programme on Food Production and Resilience of Food Systems in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries adopted in September 2022. This intervention financed by the EU is designed to be an emergency support package to enhance food production and resilience of food systems in the ACP²."}, {"bbox": [85, 1273, 324, 1307], "category": "Section-header", "text": "# 2 RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [85, 1339, 235, 1367], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.1 Context"}, {"bbox": [96, 1385, 1136, 1519], "category": "Text", "text": "**The agricultural sector in Ghana** has been a major driver of poverty reduction and dominates the livelihoods of rural households. It is today estimated that 62.5% of rural households are engaged in agricultural activities mainly for sustenance³. Agricultural land area constitutes 69.1% of the total land area. However, only 57.6% of the arable land is currently cultivated and the potential for growth is enormous⁴. Agriculture continues to be small holder driven, with about 90% of farm holdings less than two hectares in size. Outputs from Smallholder Farmers (SHFs)"}, {"bbox": [85, 1548, 1144, 1608], "category": "Footnote", "text": "² Council Decision (EU) 2022/1223 of 12 July 2022 concerning the allocation of funds de-committed from projects under the 10th and 11th European Development Funds for the purpose of financing actions addressing the food security crisis and economic shock in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries following Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine; Ghana component FED/2022/44443"}, {"bbox": [85, 1607, 598, 1627], "category": "Footnote", "text": "³ Ghana Living Standard Survey 7 (GLSS), Ghana Statistical Service (2019)."}, {"bbox": [85, 1626, 1116, 1646], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁴ Agriculture in Ghana: Facts and Figures Statistics Research and Information Directorate (SRID) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) (2021)."}, {"bbox": [1038, 1680, 1145, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 4 of 26"}]