Awudu Damani Musah, Senior Skills Development Advisor on the #GrEEnProject

About 114 entrepreneurs, supported by the European Union (EU), have graduated and acquired General Agric certificates through Green Employment and Enterprise (GrEEn) at the Kwadaso Agricultural College.

Mr. Awudu Daman Musah, Senior Skills Development Advisor at SNV Ghana, whilst addressing the graduation ceremony, explained that SNV Netherlands Development Organisation had a mission to strengthen capacities and partnerships that result in sustainable impact in the three sectors of focus: Agri-food, Energy, and Water systems.

He acknowledge the contributions of the European Union and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana, which had made it possible for the partnership to come to fruition, by funding the Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana, also known as the GrEEn Project.

He said the European Union was continuously showing its dedication to promoting the growth of green jobs and green businesses at the local and national levels, and that they at SNV Ghana were proud to partner the EU to support the job creation and skills development goals of the Government of Ghana

A group photo of the participants

He also extended appreciation to the Kwadaso Agricultural College, which has been their partner under the training programme. He stated that because of SNV’s focus on agriculture, and now agri-food, they had always worked, and would continue to work with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in their agriculture-related programming, since the SNV started operations in Ghana in 1992.

According to him, the success of the training programme was a result of years of shared learning and a solid foundation of effective partnership with the MoFA.

He was of the view that youth hold the keys to sustainable development, however, he understood they (youth) lacked opportunities.

He underscored that, to bridge this gap, SNV uses their flagship Opportunities for Youth Employment (OYE) Programme, which partners public and private institutions to increase entrepreneurship and employability skills for youth jobs makers and jobs seekers in general.

Under their GrEEn Project, Mr. Awudu disclosed that, SNV Ghana had been implementing OYE by carrying out skills training, facilitating on-the-job skills development through internships and practical learning, as well as providing funding to green micro-businesses and start-ups.

He indicated that, in 2022, SNV Ghana and the Kwadaso Agricultural College signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) to carry out a partnership to train and award a National General Agriculture Certificate to entrepreneurs in the agriculture value chain who had completed the OYE Basic and Advanced Skills Training.

Under the partnership with Kwadaso, a total of three pilot phases, with the first and second pilot targeting youth and entrepreneurs in the Ejisu Municipality and the Ejura-Sekyedumase in the Ashanti Region, were carried out between August and December 2022.

On behalf of the EU, the Netherlands Embassy and SNV Ghana, he commended Dr. Ishak Shaibu, the Kwadaso Agric College, and MoFA staff who worked together with them to validate the 10 courses used during the training, and diligently carried out in-class theory as well as practical field lessons.

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