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Release
February 8, 2012
Millennium Development Authority (MiDA)
Honourable Minister and Deputy Ministers for Information,
The Chairman and Directors of the MiDA Board
Our colleagues from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Fellow Ghanaians Watching this Program
Our Friends in the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
Opening
With only 8 days left to the end of the Ghana MCA Compact
Program, it is my pleasure to present to you and to our fellow
Ghanaians, what my Team and I at MiDA, the implementing and
accountable entity have made of the US$547,009,000 that came
Ghana’s way in February 2007.
We are indeed grateful to the Ministry of Information for
facilitating this Meeting and our friends in the Media for
their patronage.
The Millennium Challenge Account Program presents a new and
innovative business model for the delivery of development
assistance, with strict guidelines and emphasis on
performance, results and accountability. the implementation
process has generated interest nationwide, despite our
concentration on 30 Districts.
Since we were to be held accountable for delivering results
and to meet numerous expectations and aspirations, we started
with our own set of imperatives to guide us to the successful
execution of the Program.
a. This is a prop-poor, performance based and result driven
Programme. There are many poor farmers in the 30 selected
Districts whose economy must be supported to grow. Therefore
use the funds fully and leave nothing on the table.
b. These are free public funds, guard every dollar and account
fully for it, allowing the funds to create maximum value in
the beneficiary Districts.
c. Adopt new ways of doing things, embed the MCC Effect and
work transparently to uphold the integrity of the Program.
To win the challenge and make the expected impacts, my Team
and I turned no blind eye to the challenges that characterise
the implementation of Projects like ours. Our work over the
last 5 years has been very tough and indeed challenging, but
we remained focussed and have forged ahead, determined to up
hold the dignity deserving of the selected beneficiaries. I
will leave Ghanaians to judge our results.
As we draw down the curtain on the 5-year Program, I will like
to report that we have applied the entire US$547m and kept the
Program whole and integrated 2 major re-scoping exercises in
2008 and 2009, necessitated by input cost increases.
We have certainly gained the respect and trust of the donor,
the United States of America, represented by the Millennium
Challenge Corporation, as Ghana has been re-selected and now
fully engaged in the process towards a new Compact that will
power and accelerate the development of our country’s economy.
We see all these as the dividend Ghana has received from our
commitment to implementing successfully a Program that demands
results and leads to the upliftment of the lives of our less
privileged relations, who as farmers, have taken up the
responsibility for feeding the nation, but who by and large,
live in darkness, with no clean water and sanitation
facilities, no roads, no schools, no clinics, no organised
markets for their crops, underserved by banks and who rely on
only one rain-fed cropping season to support their livelihood.
We call these potential businesspersons, peasants, but they
are the people whose collective successes and contributions
will add to our GDP and maximise our country’s value as a
middle income economy.
These smallholder farmers and their communities were the focus
of the 5-year MCA Programme.
Background
Ladies and gentlemen, implementation of this Program started
on Tuesday, August 1st 2006, when the Millennium Challenge
Account, Ghana Compact was signed between the Government of
Ghana and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Ghana
Project Team, representing the United States Government. With
the signing of the Compact, MCC agreed to make available to
the Government of Ghana, a grant of half a billion dollars, to
enable her to implement the Program and achieve the agreed
objectives within the Compact term of five years.
The Compact entered into force on 15th February 2007 and will
end on 16th February 2012. There is no room for extension.
Ghana Compact Program Goal
The goal of the Compact is to reduce poverty through economic
growth in Ghana, led by agricultural transformation. The
two-fold objective of the Program is therefore, firstly, to
increase the production and productivity of high-value cash
and food staple crops and secondly, to enhance the
competitiveness of Ghana’s high-value cash and food crops in
both local and international markets.
The process towards the execution of the Compact Program
envisaged the integrated and simultaneous development of 3 key
activities:-
• Agriculture Project
• Transportation Project
• Rural Development Project
Mr. Chairman, the Program’s logic captures succinctly, the
Project Objectives which will ensure the attainment of the
Compact Goal. Let me now delve into each complementary
Project, and what we have done with it. I will highlight
Projects completed and the percentage of the MCC Grant funding
that has gone into the related Activities.
A. Agriculture Project – (6 Key Activities)
(Total Budget: US$ 208.8m, or…. % of the Total Compact
Budget).
Owning to her ability to grow successfully a wide diversity of
tropical and sub-tropical crops, Ghana has the unique
potential to become the leading West African Supplier of
horticultural products into markets in neighboring countries
and to the European Union, where the demand for tropical
fruits and vegetables is experiencing strong growth.
Additionally, domestic food security will be enhanced, if we
expand our use of arable lands for maize, yam, rice, cassava
and other traditional crops.
Agri. Project Objective
To enhance the profitability of staple foods like rice, maize,
yam and high value horticulture crops, and to improve delivery
of business and technical services to support the expansion of
commercial agriculture and farmer-based organizations (FBOs),
which are groups of eligible farmers, input suppliers selling
to such farmers or output processors buying from such farmers.
To achieve these objectives, a number of mutually reinforcing
and integrated activities, six in all, were identified to
address constraints to farming; MCC funding has supported the
following activities:
Farmer and Enterprise Training in Commercial Agriculture -
(Commercial Training Activity). All 30 Districts -
US$62.13m
• Free, intensive, multi-phased training for 67,090
Smallholder farmers, an increase of 112%). (Comprising 1335
FBOs, split as 45% female 55% /male). Training was provided by
28 private Technical Training Services Providers (TTSPs).
• Training is intended to improve their commercial and
business planning skills and improve the rate of the adoption
of the value-chain approach and crop productivity enhancement
processes.
• Preparation of Business Plans for all FBOs after training.
• Distribution of (1-acre) Production Starter Packs (SPs),
comprising maize, rice, groundnut or pepper Seeds, fertilizer
and boots, (worth $230) to trained farmers. It also includes
money for land preparation..
• SPs for non-production FBOs, included produce they process
for markets; maize, groundnuts, sheanuts and jute sacks. =
US$230..
• Formation of Crop Value Chains to improve access to markets
by FBO Communities.
• Training of 120 SMEs in Business Development and Growth.
• Coaching and Certification of 62 FBOs (3100 farmers) by MOFA
Staff certified as Trainers in Global Good Agricultural
Practices (GAP).
Irrigation Activity - US$24.8m
To prevent frequent crop failures and food shortages due to
variations in the amount and intensity of rain; and to expand
fruit and vegetable production by smallholder farmers and
other farmer groups, the Program has provided irrigated water
to some needy communities and Anchor Investors..
• We have rehabilitated and constructed 4 Irrigation Schemes,
viz: Kpong Left Bank Irrigation Project, the Kpong Piped Water
Scheme in the SHZ, and the Botanga and Golinga Schemes; (NAZ),
using the abundant water resources in the Volta River.
• In all, we shall put 2,465 hectares under Irrigation to
ensure a sustainable exports sector.
Land Tenure Facilitation Activity – US$4.09m
Consistent with the policy and methodological framework of the
Ghana Land Administration Project, (LAP), the Compact’s Land
Activity has been designed to contribute to an environment of
more secure land tenure and more efficient land use, for the
benefit of local farmers and investors. In this Activity, we
have worked in collaboration with the Lands Commission and its
Agencies.
MCC funds have been applied to the following Projects:
• Installation of Continuous Operating Receiver Systems, (CORS)
and GPS Equipment to enhance the surveying and mapping out of
farmland parcels in all Zones and other more efficient
processing of land title registration.
• The completion of Phase1 of a Pilot Program to register
2,500 rural land parcels in the Awutu Senya District of the
Southern Zone. To date 1400 titles have been issued.
• The provision of furniture and essential IT Infrastructure
and automated equipment to 10 Circuit Courts selected and
rehabilitated by the Judicial Service to handle land disputes
and to reduce the backlog of Land Cases. The Program involved
specific training in ICT, Land Law and ADR for Judges who will
handle these Special Courts.
• Training of Community Leaders and selected stakeholders in
the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process, also aimed
at reducing land disputes.
• To ensure the continuity of our rural land titling
activities by the Lands Commission, we have constructed and
fully equipped 3 new Land Title Registry Offices in Winneba,
Savelugu and Donkorkrom
Post-Harvest Infrastructure and Value Chain Services Activity
– US$
Ladies and gentlemen, the availability of post-harvest
improvements infrastructure are necessary if Ghana’s
horticulture export industry in particular, is to become a
significant supplier of fruits and vegetables to the EU and
other export markets and also to reduce post-harvest losses.
MCC funding has supported the development of additional
post-harvest handling capacity that will assist in maintaining
the quality and enhance the value of products from the farm to
markets and also reduce post-harvest losses.
• A modern 1000 tons privately managed Perishable Cargo
Center, with Storage and Coldrooms , to handle fresh
agriculture produce, has been constructed at the at the Kotoka
Airport (Accra);
In furtherance of efficient post-harvest handling,
• We have constructed 3 Public Pack houses at Akorley, near
Dodowa, and at Mariakrom and Otwekrom in the Akuapem South
Municipal Assembly, to serve the needs of disadvantaged small
holder farmers, growing mango, papaya and pineapple for local
and export markets.
• We have constructed 10 privately-managed Agriculture
Business Centres (ABCs). 5 in the NAZ, 3in ABZ and 2 in the
SHB. These will serve as aggregation and buying Centres for
selected crops, including maize and rice;
• A US$2.1m revolving Grant has been provided to 7 Members of
the Sea freight Pineapple Exporters Group to procure
Pre-Coolers, Packing Lines and Generators to enhance the
efficiency of the horticultural exports sector and the
performance of the major Nucleus farmers.
• The Laboratories of 3 public organizations, namely the PPRSD,
WRI and GSA, have been refurbished, furnished or upgraded to
meet IPPC Standards and to enhance their capacity to support
improvements to the quality of farm produce for local and
export markets and to support effective service delivery to
the private sector operators in the agricultural industry.
• To meet international quality standards and enhance the
competitiveness of our exports, the Program has also supported
the process towards the enactment of the Plants and Fertilizer
Act, Act 803 of June 2010, which brings Ghana into conformity
with the International Plants Protection Convention Standards.
The last Act dated back to 1973.
Agricultural Credit Activity – US$29.75m
The Program’s Agricultural Credit component is intended to
provide for and meet the needs of our un-served or
under-served farmers.
To remedy and improve on this MCC funding provided a revolving
Credit fund to 56 financial institutions, namely 11 Commercial
Banks, 34 Rural Banks, 2 Savings & Loans Companies and 9
Financial NGOs, for on-lending to some 10,506 borrowers
engaged in farming and in the Agricultural Value Chain
Activities. US$16.74 million (Ghc23.97m) has been disbursed to
date, challenges with repayment of loans notwithstanding.
For effective and efficient financial services delivery; funds
were also provided for training and capacity building in
Loan/Credit Management and related areas for 480 Managers and
Staff drawn from Rural Bank and FNGOs.
Feeder Roads Activity – US$70.63m
Agriculture development is critically dependent on a good
transport networks and road linkages that provide access to
inputs, markets and social service delivery points.
To improve transportation linkages, enhance efficiencies and
reduce transportation costs for our farmers and output buyers
and processors and to enhance the competitiveness of our
agricultural produce using the roads, Feeder Roads were
singled out and US$70.63m of the Compact Funds have been
committed to supporting the rehabilitation of 357kms of Feeder
Road segments across the three Zones; namely:
Savelugu-Nanton (NAZ) - 110.5 kms
Eastern/Central Regions (SHZ) - 146.1 kms
Volta Region (SHZ) - 100.8 kms
Besides the completed Roads,…..% of which have been tarred,
some 330 kilometers of Feeder Roads have been fully designed
and left on the shelves, to await new sources of funding.
MiDA is presently working in collaboration with USAID to
construct additional 46kms of feeder roads in the Volta
Region.
Transportation Project – (3 Key Activities)
Total Budget: US$ 218.37m
Objective
Mr. Chairman, the Transportation Project under the Program has
as its objective to reduce the transportation costs affecting
agricultural commerce at the sub-regional and regional levels
in Ghana, in support of the Agriculture Project. 2
transportation models – road and maritime are targeted,
Besides the 356km of Feeder Roads which have been
rehabilitated, MCC funds have also been applied to the upgrade
of the N.1 Highway, construction of Trunk Roads and provision
of Ferries, under the broader Transportation Project.
N.1 Highway Activity – US$173.2m
Over the last 30 months, we have completed the upgrading of
14.1 km of a major Urban Highway into a 3-lane dual
carriageway; (from the Tetteh -Quarshie Interchange to Mallam
Junction in Accra). This is the main thoroughfare that brings
agricultural goods to the Tema Seaport and the Kotoka
International Airport.
This Project, which has been on the drawing board since 1965
included the construction of 2 Grade Separation Interchanges,
at the Dimples and Mallam Junctions, 6 Footbridges, 13 Bus
Bays, 23 Minor Junctions, Bicycle Lanes and 2 Transport
Terminals at Kokroko, near Mallam and at Abeka Lapaz.
This intervention will reduce the bottleneck that delay access
to the international Airport and the Port of Tema and supports
the expansion of the base of our horticultural exports.
It also improves the efficiency of the greater road network in
and around Accra.
All these activities bring the N.1Project costs to US$173.2m
or ……% of Compact Funds and are now ready to be handed over to
the GHA.
Rattan Village: To resettle the Cane and Rattan Weavers on the
Corridor, a Cane and Rattan Village has been constructed at
Ayi-Mensah, near Accra for Rattan Weavers.
Trunk Road Activity - US$30.11m
To improve road access to farmers and traders to the Afram
Plains and to inputs and markets and reduce vehicle operating
and maintenance costs, we have constructed the 75.1km Agogo-Dome
Trunk Road, with a new Bridge over River Afram at Afrisere, at
a cost of US$30.11m.
This major intervention, which provides an alternative route
into the Afram Basin Area, has opened new economic
opportunities for many agricultural households and road users
in the corridor and will stimulate higher agricultural
production levels in the Afram Basin Zone.
Ferry Activity – US$16.5m
The Program did not leave out water transportation.
To improve the reliability of ferry services in the busiest
crossing points on the Volta River and in the Afram Basin,
US$16.5m of MCC funds have been used to construct the, (2) two
RoRo Vehicle and Pedestrian Ferry Boats to augment the ferry
fleet of VLTC. These are MV Millennium Challenge and MV
Freedom and Justice. These will replace the very old MV Nana
Gyimah.
• As part of the ferry activity, we have also rehabilitated
and modernized the 43years old Floating Dock at Akosombo, for
use by VLTC;
• New Landing Stages have been constructed at both ends to
increase ferry and vehicle handling capacities and the
Passenger Terminals at Adawso and Ekye Amanfrom upgraded;
• We have also extracted all the dangerous Tree Stumps in the
5km Ferry Path, to allow for safe passages and prevent any
accidents.
Rural Services Development Project – (3 Key Activities)
Total Budget: US$ 77.72m
Residents in our rural areas, who are predominantly farmers,
have spotty and frequently poor access to basic community
services such as potable water, community sanitation, schools
at all levels and domestic electricity. This has serious
effect on productivity and has limited Ghana’s ability to
realize the full potential of its agricultural resources.
Objective of the Rural Dev. Project
For this reason, the Rural Services Development Project has
been designed to address existing gaps and to strengthen the
rural institutions that provide complementary services to
communities in our beneficiary Districts.
in a coordinated fashion.
MCC funds totaling US$77.72m have been used to support the
following Project activities: Procurement Capacity Building,
Community Services and Financial Services.
Public Procurement Capacity Building – US$1.4m
To support the Public Procurement Authority’s efforts at
strengthening the capacity of Public Sector Procurement
entities to procure goods, works and services professionally
and also to build capacity within the public sector to
undertake public procurements, constituting 11%-15% of all
goods, produced in Ghana,
• we have provided educational capital through the development
of Curricula and Training Modules for Procurement Majors,
Diploma holders and In-service training for Public Procurement
Professionals.
• We have trained 20 Lecturers in the use of the Curricula and
Training Modules, legacies that have been bequeathed to the
PPA,
• while MCC funding has placed 1600 Tertiary Students in
procurement-related Internships with Public Institutions.
Community Services Activity – US$45.6m
Our Community Services Project covered the provision of
Schools, Water and Electricity facilities.
a). Education:
• Under the Education Component, we rehabilitated some old
structures or constructed new blocks all totaling 207 School
Blocks; (comprising 103 Kindergartens, 40, 3-Classroom Blocks
and 29 six-classroom Blocks) and 149 Ancillary Facilities in
435 Communities;
• We have provided each School with handicapped ramps for easy
access, girl-friendly sanitation facilities, complete set of
furniture, rain catchment systems and 1000gallons capacity
polytanks for water storage.
b). Water:
• We have provided potable water in 94 Communities, through 15
Pipe Extensions, 186 Boreholes, and 13 Small Town Water
Systems. These will assist in reducing illnesses and loss of
productivity.
• Additionally, we have completed a 70.3km Tamale Water
Extension Project, sourcing water from the Dalung Headworks in
the Tolon Kumbungu District, to serve communities in the
Savelugu -Nanton District and the Tamale Metro.
• Lastly, we have completely refurbished and upgraded the Pong
Tamale Water Treatment System.
c). Rural Electrification:
• 20.6km Low Voltage, 93.0km High Voltage transmission lines
provide to un-served and underserved farming communities, in
the Savelugu Nanton District and installed 12 Transformers to
serve Nucleus Farms and 3 Public Packhouses.
Financial Services Activity – US$27.7m
To extend the depth and value of financial services provided
to rural populations and to reinforce their integration into
the cash economy and provide access to savings, credits, and
payments and transfer services, the Program had a financial
services component.
In support of this Activity, MCC have provided funding to
cover the following Projects:
• Installation nationwide, of a common Software Platform and
the provision of the requisite training to all Banks to
support the operations of the Cheque Codeline Clearing (CCC)
System which has ensured that cheques lodged across the entire
country are cleared in 48 hours from the date of deposit. This
is significantly improved the turnaround of cheques in the
remotest locations some of which lasted for more than 10
working days. This cheque clearing system now covers ALL banks
in Ghana, both commercial banks and rural banks.
• Hardware for an Automated Clearing House (ACH) Facility for
the National Clearing House, which also involves all Banks in
Ghana.
• Under this component, we have connected all 134 Rural Banks
and over 711 Agencies, onto the National Payment Systems
through the development of a Satellite-based Wide Area
Network, and completed the deployment of a Standard e-Merge
Banking Application Software, plus Local Area Networks (LAN)
and electric generators.
Ladies and Gentlemen, all these Project Activities have been
completed and ready to be handed over to the Implementing
Entities, with whom we have signed Agreements which spell out
arrangements for ensuring the sustainability of the 12 Project
Activities.
Conclusion
Ladies and gentlemen, I will now conclude by acknowledging the
support and cooperation we received from all the 14 public
sector institutions, namely; Ministries, Departments and
Agencies. I will particularly mention the EPA, which ensured
environmental accountability and compliance, ISSER and GSS who
worked hard to gather baseline agricultural data prior to the
commencement of our Projects to allow for the successful
prosecution of our post-Compact evaluation activities. The
Lands Commission’s Land Valuation Division, which aided the
process towards resettlement and compensation of so many PAPs,
the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, who played a major role
in the commercial development of our farmers, all Road Sector
Agencies GHA, DUR and DFR, the Ministry of Education, District
Assemblies and all the many Consultants and Contractors, who
worked on our Projects.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am not highlighting the contraibutions
of our Monitoring and Evaluation Department, the Procurement
Department and the Procurement Agent who took us through over
700 Procurements, the Fiscal Agent and our Finance Team who
ensured that we have met all fiscal controls and
accountability Plans, the Internal Audit Team, who supervised
compliance with MCC’s controls and guidelines and the
Publicity Team which worked to get information on our Projects
to you.
Certainly, all of us, Project Managers and the Management and
our Technical Colleagues in MCC, have worked very hard to
bring us this far.
We shall not forget vibrant Media who put us on our toes and
the Ghanaian public whose constant plodding for results served
as a source of motivation to meet our deliverables. Nor shall
we forget the support of the Board and the contribution and
the Government of Ghana, who obliged us with counterpart funds
to meet costs associated with resettlement of Project Affected
Persons and the relocation of all utilities along the N.1
Corridor.
Thank you and God bless Ghana.
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