The Sustainable Soybean Production in Northern Ghana (SSPiNG) project created 99 direct jobs between October 2023 and January 2024 with 96 per cent of the beneficiaries being youth and 4% being females.
The jobs were generated through the project’s access-to-mechanization initiative where value chain actors, especially nucleus farmers and aggregators were subsidized to acquire multiple purpose threshers for threshing soybean.
Under the project, a total of 4,743 metric tonnes of soybean grains were threshed within that period, valued at GHc23.43 million.
Implemented over four years from 2021, the project contributed significantly to increasing soybean production in the country from 209,000 metric tonnes in 2020 to more than 350,000 metric tonnes in 2024.
The project also saw farmers, who previously cultivated one acre per year, now expand cultivation to at least two acres.
These outcomes were shared during the project’s closure workshop held in Tamale and attended by various stakeholders across the soybean value chain.
The SSPiNG Project was funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and implemented by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ghana in partnership with YARA Ghana, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Felleskjopet (Norway) and Wageningen University in Netherlands.
The project was implemented across 16 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, North East, and Savannah Regions.
Professor Samuel Adjei-Nsiah, SSPiNG Project Coordinator, speaking during the workshop, said it was to evaluate the project’s successes and challenges, and to explore how stakeholders and policy actors could build on its impact to further develop the soybean sector.
He said the project was implemented to promote public-private partnerships across input and output markets, mechanization, financial services, and capacity building.
He said it had also engaged government agencies to foster enabling policies for agricultural development.
Prof Adjei-Nsiah said the project strengthened the soybean supply chain through ICT-based information systems and by building the capacities of actors at various levels.
Madam Theresa Randolph, Managing Director of YARA Ghana, expressed satisfaction with the project’s achievements, saying it aligned with YARA’s mission of feeding the world responsibly and protecting the planet.
She said: “Our satisfaction is not only about the fertilizers we provide but also the strategic partnerships and agronomic expertise we offer, which are critical to boosting yields, enhancing community resilience, and promoting sustainable food security.”
Hajia Hawa Musah, Northern Regional Director of Agriculture, highlighted the project’s alignment with the country’s demand-driven approach to agricultural development.
She emphasised the importance of capacity building and setting standards to guide value chain actors and facilitate trade.
She commended IITA Ghana and its partners for changing the narrative around soybean cultivation in the northern part of the country.
Madam Cecilia Kennedy Konlan, a beneficiary of the project from the North East Region, shared her experience saying “Prior to this project, we cultivated soybeans mainly for consumption.
“ Now, we’ve been empowered to scale up for commercial production and received training on best agronomic practices that have significantly improved our yields.”
By Albert Futukpor, GNA
