The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has established a National Steering Committee to improve collaboration, coordination, and policy delivery effectiveness among key Ministries Departments and Agencies (MMDAs). This platform aims to bring decision-making closer and make it more responsive to the needs of youth, women, and persons with disabilities (PLWD) in the agricultural sector.
The establishment of this Committee is a joint initiative between the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the MasterCard Foundation. It comes as Ghana grapples with a youth unemployment rate of 19.7%, with urban and rural components of 20.4% and 18.7% respectively. Additionally, the country faces more than 50% underemployment, which is higher than the overall unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan African countries.
"Despite the various interventions designed to tackle youth unemployment in Ghana, such as the Nation Builders Corps (NABCo), the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), and the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme (NAELP), these programs have mostly operated in silos and have not been strategically aligned and coordinated to deliver the intended benefits to the youth," said Dr. Betty Annan, AGRA Country Director.
"The idea is to influence the youth policy ecosystem to impact inclusion and work opportunities in the agriculture and adjacent sectors for financially disadvantaged youth, women, and PLWD," Dr. Annan added.
The National Steering Committee is expected to facilitate better collaboration, coordination, and policy and program delivery effectiveness among all the relevant sector ministries, agencies, and departments. This, in turn, will bring decision-making closer and make it more responsive to the needs of youth, women, and PLWD in the agricultural sector.
The first meeting of the Committee, held on June 25, 2024, in Accra, brought together representatives from various MMDAs, development partners, and civil society organizations. The meeting aimed to build a shared understanding of youth, women, and PLWD inclusion in the agricultural sector, firm up the draft terms of reference for the multi-sectoral coordination platform, and discuss relevant national policies, strategies, and programs.
The platform is expected to produce a multi-sectoral strategy document on job creation for youth, women, and PLWD, as well as support the National Youth Authority (NYA) in developing a multi-sectoral plan to enhance policy, program design, and implementation for youth employment in Ghana.
"This initiative is a crucial step towards creating a more inclusive and responsive agricultural sector in Ghana, one that actively addresses the needs and aspirations of the youth, women, and persons with disabilities," echoed Mr. Stephen Ampem Darko, Principal Planning Analyst, NDPC.