Ghana’s Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) programme is delivering strong results, creating jobs, boosting production, and increasing revenues in key agricultural value chains, programme partners have reported.
Launched by Agri-Impact Limited in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, the youth-focused initiative aims to transform Ghana’s agriculture sector by providing opportunities for young people—especially women and persons with disabilities—while increasing domestic production and reducing food imports.
Since its launch, HAPPY has:
- Created over 8,000 youth jobs and trained 10,000 value-chain actors.
- Supported poultry production worth US$4.6 million, delivering 7,500 metric tonnes of broiler meat.
- Generated US$25.2 million in revenues.
Running from 2023 to 2027, the four-year programme targets four key value chains—rice, soybean, tomato, and poultry—reaching over 400,000 beneficiaries. It aims to place 326,000 youth in productive work, with women accounting for 70%, and to boost productivity by up to 44% in target crops.
These achievements were showcased at a Northern Regional stakeholder workshop on the Poultry Sector Master Plan, organised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) with Agri-Impact and the Mastercard Foundation. The plan will provide a data-driven roadmap to reduce imports, strengthen competitiveness, create jobs, and guide investment across Ghana’s poultry value chain.
Hajia Hawa Mush, Northern Regional Director of the Department of Agriculture, praised the initiative for making agriculture more attractive to young people and highlighted the poultry sector’s potential for food security and rural livelihoods.
George Dassah, President of the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers, called for efficient policies free from political interference to ensure the sector’s sustainable growth.
Prince Manu Yeboah, Business Development and Research Manager at Agri-Impact, noted that HAPPY complements other youth-focused initiatives, targeting over 46,000 graduates, while supporting Ghana’s food security and industrialisation goals.
With continued investment and partnerships, the HAPPY programme is set to unlock sustainable opportunities for Ghanaian youth, strengthen local production, and reduce reliance on food imports.
