Impact Assessment of Goldfields Ghana Foundation Agricultural Projects and Extension Services on Agricultural Sustainability in Ghana; A Case of Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality

Abstract

Agricultural and food security is a concern in Sub-Saharan Africa and this has invited the intervention from both government and private sectors. Gold Fields Ghana (GFG), a leading gold mining company in Ghana is a significant contributor to the nation’s tax revenue, and an industry leader in socio-economic development. It has created Gold Fields Ghana Foundation (GFGF) to provide financial support to the company’s development initiatives, projects and programs in health, education, agriculture and infrastructure. The agricultural projects have been in existence for some years now but no assessment has been done on its impact on agricultural and food security in the country, hence the aim of the present study. The study used mixed method and recruited 180 farmers from 9 communities within the Goldfields Tarkwa and Damang mines catchment area located in the Prestea Huni Valley and Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipalities. The primary data was collected from the respondents by the use of questionnaires and interview guides while secondary data was obtained from related literature and other useful and relevant published materials. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22 at significant p-value <0.01, 0,05 and 0.1. The study revealed that Youth in Organic Horticulture Production (YouHop), Community Oil Palm Production Project and Cocoa Farmers’ Support Program are the main agricultural projects provided by the GFGF and the participated farmers receive Training, Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), Farm Inputs, Farm Tools, Financial and Extension Support. The top 3 problems faced by the beneficiaries were a limited number of a selected farmers for the projects, high extension agent-to-farmer ratio, and inadequate extension service officers. The findings also showed that, GFGF project has highly improved the income of the beneficiaries and about 85% of the farmers were satisfied with the service of the Extension agents. The study also revealed that community acceptance and project.