| Country Partnership Strategy in Agriculture and Forestry Sector with Ghana | |||
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| Author | Lee, Hyojung | ||
| Views | 56060 | Publication Date | 2020.03.04 |
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Research Background ○Aid to member states of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) increased by 30% from 2006 to 2016, but the budget directly supporting for recipient countries decreased from 58% in 2006 to 47% in 2016. This change is due to the increase in humanitarian aid and in-country refugee assistance costs (OECD, 2018). As discussions continue on the resources for development cooperation, there is a growing demand at home and abroad for limited allocation of resources, including mobilizing private resources, implementing ODA commitments that require 0.7% of the GNI, and reducing poverty and inequality. To this end, Korea has selected vital partner countries and has established and supported essential Country Partnership Strategies (CPS). Ghana, one of the crucial partner countries, has been selected as a regional development targeted country for its key support areas in the first CPS, which will be completed in 2020. Through the aid, Korea has provided agricultural cooperatives to increase agricultural productivity, increase farm income, and support the self-development of local communities. It has supported the development of agricultural-based industries such as rice cultivation technology and other agricultural products storage, processing, packaging and distribution to Ghana. ○It is time to look back on the performance of Korea's Regional Development area of ODA projects that have been supported so far in the establishment of the second CPS, and a strategic approach to increase the development effectiveness in the future. The purpose of this study is to diagnose current issues and problems through analysis of Ghana's agricultural situation and to make the direction of Ghana's development strategy and Korea's support strategy by selecting and concentrating on the areas where Korea has a comparative advantage. Furthermore, it will be used as primary data in seeking ways to cooperate with the international community and will help establish an ODA strategy for Ghana in Korea. Research Methodology ○Using the primary statistical data provided by the World Bank, OECD, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), we diagnosed the overall status and problems of the Ghana agriculture sector. Through the joint research and commissioned research with local experts in Ghana, the current state of agriculture and ODA structure in Ghana was analyzed. ○Moreover, we reviewed various documents, including literature on Ghana's social and agricultural sector development strategies, international community support strategies and major projects, and Korea's key cooperation strategies and business cases. Findings ○The goal of ODA in Ghana was set to expand the agricultural value chain to become an economic center of West Africa. To this end, three basic directions were established: first, securing food security, second, strengthening market access, and third, expanding the agricultural industry. ○First, to secure food security, high-quality varieties should be developed. Also, seed dissemination systems should be established and food crop production should be improved. Joint research projects with the KOPIA (Korea Program on International Agriculture) is required to strengthen R & D capacity for developing new varieties. Tasks related to breeding, such as adaptability experiments of Korean rice varieties and native varieties and mating experiments, should be carried out in cooperation with local research institutes. The dissemination of developed varieties on a farm-by-farm basis is an essential issue in securing food security. Thus, it is necessary to foster farmers who can produce seeds and to establish a distribution system that leads to sales. Improving the production infrastructure including arranging farmland and irrigation canals is one of the main tasks as critical part of food production. ○The second strategic goal is to strengthen market access. Decisions on appropriate harvest times, post-harvest storage, and drying can help reduce food loss and consequently increase food supply. Education on the processing technology of agricultural products can increase the added value of agricultural products and improve the distribution and sales infrastructure, directly contributing to an increase in farm income. ○The third goal is to expand the agricultural industry. Moving away from the simple structure of production and sales, Ghana can build a sustainable structure with the establishment and operation of the cooperatives. In particular, this research aims to contribute to the inclusive development pursued by the SDGs by setting the vulnerable groups such as women and small farmers as their primary beneficiaries. Also, ODA projects in the form of CSV are needed for Korean agro-enterprises to enter Ghana markets. The “International Development Cooperation Project Council” is organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, KOICA, EDCF, related research institutes, sectoral research institutes, and the private sector aiming at designing sectoral projects. The council can be used to envision elements that private companies can work with ODA in planning agricultural projects in Ghana. ○In this study, we selected rice as the primary target crop. Ghana's rice consumption continues to rise, but the production does not meet the demand. The reason is the low quality of seeds, weak seed dissemination system, lack of resources at the production stage, including lack of irrigation infrastructure, lack of drying and storage facilities, lack of processing capacity, and lack of business capabilities such as marketing and branding. We diagnosed the lack of capacity across the value chain as the cause of the problems and found that it is essential to prepare strategies and initiatives to address the issues. Researchers: Lee Hyojung, Choi Jungman Research period: 2019. 1. ~ 2019. 12. E-mail address: hyojunglee@krei.re.kr |
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