A $3 billion initiative, which is aimed at sustaining agricultural growth in Africa, is expected to encourage more private businesses to participate in the sector to promote the welfare of smallholder farmers.

The project, supported by G-8 countries, is expected to lift 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years.

Codenamed ‘new alliance for food security and nutrition’, the initiative aims at catalyzing private sector investment in agriculture and combining effective policies by African governments to promote innovation and focus on managing risk.

Lunching the new alliance for food in Accra, the Agric Minister, Kwesi Ahwoi, in a speech read on his behalf by Nii Amansa Namoale, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, said government recognizes the initiative as an opportunity to enhance the focus and level of investment.

The effective implementation of the project would lead to sustainable growth in incomes and poverty reduction, he said.

He noted that “strides had been made in public-private partnership exemplified by the development of the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project co-financed by the World Bank $100 million loan and USAID $45 million grant.

Out-going United States Ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum stated that investment in agriculture would go a long way to boost food production and ensure nutrition for the people and thereby reduce the poverty level.

“Private sector investment is important to improve the food sector in Ghana,” he said, explaining that the project targets 1.3 million people in Ghana.

Mr. Teitelbaum said some multinationals and private sector companies in Ghana had already signed letters of intent to support Ghana’s agriculture sector.

Nana Osei Bonsu, Executive Director of the Private Enterprises Foundation, cited heavy dependence on rain fall, land tenure, level of infrastructure and technology as some of the challenges of players in the agricultural sector of Ghana.

“We have to structure a standard policy for securing land for the private sector,” he said and stressed the need to support the private sector, which is a strong back bone of the economy.”

Later Lena Otoo, a deputy Director at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in an interview, explained that Ghana would receive $600 million out of the total commitment from the eight partners.

She said five main commodities, rice, maize, cassava, yam and cocoyam had been selected “yet other commodities would be promoted depending on the competitive advantage of the area through a value chain analysis.”