Practical insights into design and implementation of a gender-transformative agriculture-nutrition-finance-marketing intervention in northern Ghana. Working Paper

Biazin, B.; Low, Jan W.

Practical insights into design and implementation of a gender-transformative agriculture-nutrition-finance-marketing intervention in northern Ghana. Working Paper

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Descripción

This working paper documents the design, implementation, and lessons learned from a gender-transformative agriculture–nutrition–finance–marketing intervention implemented in northern Ghana under the GROWING project. The intervention aimed to improve nutrition, income security, and resilience among women, youth, and vulnerable households by integrating biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP), climate-smart agriculture (CSA), inclusive financial mechanisms, gender dialogue, and market linkages. The project addressed high levels of poverty, climate vulnerability, and vitamin A deficiency in Ghana’s Northern Belt through a multi-component approach that combined agricultural innovation with social and behavioral change strategies. Key components included the dissemination of drought-tolerant, vitamin A-rich OFSP varieties; promotion of climate-smart production practices; strengthened seed systems; village savings and loan associations (VSLAs); gender-transformative household dialogue; digital monitoring tools; and rural–urban market integration through trained market connectors. The paper provides practical insights into implementation processes, stakeholder coordination, institutional partnerships, digital monitoring systems, and adaptive learning during rollout. It highlights the importance of integrating nutrition-sensitive agriculture with women’s economic empowerment and social norms change to achieve sustainable improvements in food and nutrition security. Lessons learned emphasize the value of systems thinking, community ownership, financial inclusion, and cross-sector collaboration to build resilient agrifood systems. The experience contributes evidence to CGIAR priorities on resilient agrifood systems, gender equality and social inclusion, and nutrition, health, and food security. It offers a scalable model for integrated agriculture–nutrition programming in climate-vulnerable contexts across sub-Saharan Africa.