USADF Signs Grant with Community Group in Ghana:

WASHINGTON - June 8, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 8, 2009 – The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) has recently signed a grant with a community group in Ghana that will help alleviate poverty.  The grant will benefit Juaben Oil Palm Outgrowers Cooperative Society (JOPOCOS), an association of 627 oil palm farmers based in the Juaben traditional area of the Ashanti region of Ghana. 

 Upon the grant signing, USADF President Lloyd Pierson stated “By directly funding this association, USADF is promoting economic development at the grassroots level in Ghana.”  

The $99,770 grant will be obligated over eighteen months to JOPOCOS to build the capacity of the JOPOCOS extension unit to impart skills and knowledge to its farmers for better managements of farm operations.  USADF funds will assist JOPOCOS develop an efficient operational system, improve the technical and managerial capacity of its members, and expand the number of farmers receiving services.  JOPOCOS had its genesis in 1998 when the Juaben Farms Ltd. (JFL), a subsidiary of Juaben Oil Mills Ltd. (JOML), encouraged and assisted nearly 85 farmers to cultivate 200 hectares of oil palm.  Under the World Bank agriculture program (AGDIV), JFL provided the farmers with cash advances, seedlings and other inputs against fruits supplied to the mill during harvest.

 USADF established programming in Ghana in 1984.  Ghana’s current portfolio stands at twenty investment projects totaling nearly $4.5 million dollars.  For more information about the portfolio, please visit the country’s quick source page at http://www.adf.gov/USADF-QuickSourceCountryPortfolioPage-Ghana.htm .

The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) is a United States Government agency dedicated to expanding access to economic opportunity in Africa. Currently USADF operates in 20 African nations.  Over the past 25 years, USADF has funded nearly 1,500 projects representing in excess of $150 million in support of African enterprises and local African communities.  For more information on USADF, its programs and application guidelines, visit www.usadf.gov. 

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