FarmYield and GIZ launch agricultural project to empower over 200 women and youth in Northern Ghana

For 38-year-old Leticia Bopaah, learning to operate a tractor was more than the fulfilment of a childhood dream. It offered the prospect of reducing her farming costs and earning additional income to support her two children. For years, the smallholder farmer relied on a hoe and cutlass to cultivate her farmland, while hiring a tractor to prepare the land came at a considerable financial cost. That began to change when she received tractor operation training through an earlier partnership between FarmYield Ghana and the German Development Agency GIZ. “Today, operating this tractor and using it to farm my land makes me very happy. My childhood dream has always been to operate one of these, and I thank FarmYield Ghana for training me to operate a big tractor,” she said. Bopaah’s experience illustrates the opportunities that access to agricultural mechanisation skills can create for women who have traditionally relied on manual labour or paid tractor services to cultivate their farms. Now, FarmYield Ghana and GIZ are expanding their collaboration through a new initiative that will train another 40 women in tractor operation and provide agricultural production and business development opportunities to more than 160 young people and farmers in northern Ghana. The initiative, known as “ Advancing Growth, Resilience, and Opportunity with Women and Youth (AGROWY) ”, was officially launched in Bolgatanga on Monday, October 26, 2026, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two organisations. The project is being implemented under the Private Sector and Innovation Promotion in Ghana (PSInno) programme, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ in partnership with Ghana’s Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry. By the end of the collaboration in 2028, AGROWY is expected to support more than 200 women, young people and farmers through agricultural mechanisation, practical farming, entrepreneurship and business development. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Board Chairman of FarmYield Ghana, Yaw Agyare, said the initiative was designed to ensure that beneficiaries acquired not only practical skills but also opportunities to translate those skills into sustainable livelihoods. “Our goal is simple: to equip women and young people with the skills, resources and the opportunities they need to thrive. We are not here merely to train. We are here to ensure that training translates into employment, higher incomes and lasting businesses,” he said. The AGROWY project will be implemented through three components targeting different groups within the agricultural value chain. Under the Tractor Training Programme, 40 women will receive practical training in tractor operation and agricultural mechanisation, equipping them with skills to pursue employment or provide mechanisation services to farmers. The component seeks to increase women’s participation in an area of agriculture traditionally dominated by men while creating opportunities for them to earn income from tractor operation. Another 60 young people will benefit from the ‘One Youth One Acre’ component, which will provide practical agricultural production, entrepreneurship and market development support to help participants establish and grow farming enterprises. The third component, the Farmer-to-Business Transformation Programme, will support more than 100 farmers to strengthen their business management capacity and improve their participation in agricultural markets. This will include support in areas such as business formalisation, record-keeping, entrepreneurship and market access, helping farmers transition from primarily producing crops to managing commercially viable agricultural enterprises. Together, the three components are intended to address challenges affecting agricultural productivity, employment and business growth, particularly among women and young people. Speaking at the launch, Head of Programme for GIZ’s Private Sector and Innovation Promotion programme, Arlett Stojanovic, recalled an earlier initiative that supported 15 young women in northern Ghana to acquire skills in tractor operation, mechanics and drone operation. According to her, most of the beneficiaries remained employed in commercial agriculture, demonstrating the potential of targeted skills development to create employment opportunities for women. She said the organisation has trained 30 women as tractor operators over the past decade. Ms Stojanovic said AGROWY formed part of German Development Cooperation’s broader efforts to strengthen Ghana’s private sector, improve business competitiveness and create sustainable employment opportunities. “Sustainable economic development requires strong collaboration between development partners and the private sector. Through our partnership with FarmYield Ghana, we aim to promote inclusive economic growth, strengthen agribusinesses, and create meaningful employment opportunities for women and young people in Northern Ghana,” she said. Through AGROWY, the partners hope to combine skills development with agricultural production, business formalisation and market access to improve livelihoods and strengthen the resilience of agricultural enterprises.