Generating Revenues and Opportunities for Women to Improve Nutrition in Ghana (GROWING) Project. Baseline Report

The former Northern Region (fNR) of Ghana (currently composed of the Northern Region, Savannah region and Northeast Region) faces several challenges: poor soil fertility, erratic rainfall and a long dry season exacerbated by climate change pose major threats to the agricultural sector, which continues to support the livelihoods of many smallholder farmers. Nutrition is often inadequate, lacking important macro- and micronutrients, including vitamin A, calcium, iron, zinc, and vitamin B12 and adequate hygiene practices. These deficiencies are responsible for a high prevalence of stunting (≥20%) and anemia (≥30%) among young children (6-59 months of age) and women (15-49 years of age). Important drivers are high levels of illiteracy and early marriage among women and existing gender inequities deeply rooted in the social norms prevailing in rural areas of the fNR.

The Generating Revenues & Opportunities for Women to Improve Nutrition in Ghana (GROWING) project aims to improve the nutritional and financial security of women, youth, and young children in six priority districts of the fNR: Chereponi, East Mamprusi, Gushegu, Saboba, North Gonja and West Gonja. The project aims to reach 7,650 households using an integrated climate-smart agriculture- nutrition-marketing approach comprised of four components: nutrition, agriculture, gender transformation, and marketing. These components are implemented in the form of training, demonstration of technologies, distribution of planting materials, organizational interventions, gender dialogues, and institutional linkages related to financial institutions and input/output markets. Four new and nutritious crops will be promoted in the project: orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP), papaya, moringa, and amaranth. These were selected to address specific micronutrient deficiencies in the diet of beneficiaries. The project will also demonstrate climate-resilient and sustainable production and post-harvest management techniques of groundnuts in the Savanna region and soybeans in Northern and Northeast regions. Furthermore, selected communities will test rearing cavies for generating incomes and for consumption to increase beneficiaries' intake of vitamin B12, iron and zinc in their diet.

The GROWING project is funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and is implemented over a duration of 4 years and 9 months (March 2022-December 2026). Three cycles of the fully integrated intervention package will be implemented, each cycle lasting 24 months. The project is led by the International Potato Center (CIP) and co-implemented with CARE International and in partnership with the Ghana Health Services (GHS) and the Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA)