• Canada will provide $13 million to support climate-resilient livelihoods for women farmers in Northern Ghana.

• The six-year CLIMB programme will train 200 agricultural agents and develop weather-indexed financial products.

• The project targets 14,500 women farmers, 500 agribusinesses and an estimated 315,000 beneficiaries.

Canada will disburse $13 million to Ghana under a new programme called Climate Resilient Livelihoods for Women in Northern Ghana (CLIMB), which aims to enhance the resilience of women farmers in the country’s northern regions.

The government announced the financing in a statement published on Tuesday, November 11. The statement said Global Affairs Canada will fund 96% of the programme, while private funds will cover the remaining 4%. Opportunity International Canada (OIC), a non-profit development organisation specialising in microfinance, and its local partner Sinapi Aba, one of Ghana’s main microfinance institutions, will implement the programme over six years.

The initiative will focus on training 200 local agricultural agents to support women farmers in adopting climate-smart and gender-responsive agronomic techniques. The interventions will include the use of real-time meteorological data to improve crop planning and productivity. The partners will also introduce innovative financial products to expand farmers’ access to credit.

“In the context of CLIMB, Sinapi Aba will introduce innovative financial products, including affordable loans and weather-indexed crop insurance, to help women invest in their farms and protect themselves against climate risks,” the statement said.

Project leaders aim to strengthen the livelihoods of 14,500 smallholder women farmers and 500 agrifood businesses, reaching more than 315,000 people in targeted agricultural zones.

Ghana’s agriculture, which relies heavily on rainfall, remains vulnerable to drought. Drought episodes in 2023 and 2024 caused losses estimated at 22.2 billion cedis ($2 billion) in the cereal sector, according to the Ghana Cereal Council (GCC).

This article was initially published in French by Stéphanas Assocle

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum