Guinness Ghana PLC and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to invest GH₵31.6 million in modernising Ghana’s sorghum value chain in Northern Ghana.
The initiative aims to strengthen local sourcing, improve climate resilience and enhance the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the area.
The intervention, one of the largest private-sector investments in agricultural sourcing in northern Ghana, would directly benefit about 30,000 smallholder sorghum farmers and 40 aggregators across the Northern, Savannah, Upper West, Upper East and North-East Regions.
The intervention would also support input suppliers, mechanisation service providers and logistics operators to enhance sorghum production for sustainable supply of the produce to Guinness Ghana for the production of Malta Guinness.
This was contained in a statement by the GIZ’s Private Sector and Innovation Promotions (PSInno) to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa after the MoU signing in Tamale earlier this month.
The statement said the investment formed part of Guinness Ghana’s Local Raw Material (LRM) agenda, launched in 2012 to increase the use of locally sourced raw materials, create employment opportunities, reduce imports and provide farmers with reliable markets for their produce.
Under the partnership, the beneficiary farmers would receive certified, high-quality sorghum seed to improve productivity and grain quality.
It would also introduce digital technologies, including weather stations, drones and traceability systems, strengthen climate monitoring, improve transparency and meet international sustainability standards.
Additionally, farmers and aggregators would receive training in quality management, post-harvest reduction, financial literacy, access to finance, regenerative agriculture and dynamic agroforestry to improve productivity and climate resilience.
According to the statement, Mr Frederic Feraille, the Managing Director of Guinness Ghana PLC, said local sourcing of raw material for production had remained central to the company’s business strategy.
He said: “Since we began our Local Raw Material journey in 2012, we have worked to bring more of our supply chain home, creating jobs, building skills and giving Ghanaian farmers a reliable market for their grain.
This partnership with GIZ takes that commitment further, ensuring the sorghum behind Malta Guinness is grown sustainably, traced transparently and produced by farmers equipped to thrive in a changing climate.”
Also, Mr Wilhelm Hugo, the Network for Inclusive Economic Development (NIED) Cluster Coordinator at GIZ, said inclusive economic growth depended on connecting smallholder farmers to reliable markets while equipping them with the tools needed to compete.
He said the partnership represented an important investment in climate-smart agriculture and sustainable local supply chains that could create lasting jobs and improve livelihoods in northern Ghana.
The statement said the partnership demonstrates a shared commitment of Guinness Ghana and GIZ to sustainable agricultural development and inclusive economic growth.
“By combining private sector investment with development cooperation, we aim to strengthen the sorghum value chain, improve livelihoods, and create meaningful opportunities for women and young people across northern Ghana”, it explained.
Source : GNA
