As part of its Ghana Private Sector Competitiveness Programme (GPSC), the Swiss government has pledged to keep funding the country’s oil palm industry in an effort to create a competitive and sustainable sector.
The Sustainable West Africa Palm Oil Programme (SWAPP II), which was co-financed by Switzerland and the Swiss Embassy in Ghana, is coming to an end, and the second phase of GPSC is almost ready to launch, according to Ag. Head of Cooperation-Swiss Embassy Ghana, Anne Schick.
“We are currently finalising the set-up of the second phase of our Ghana Private Sector Competitiveness Programme, which since 2017 has worked in the cashew and palm oil sector in Ghana.
“I can confirm Switzerland’s commitment to continue the support for both sectors in Ghana, and hence the joint journey to make the oil palm sector in Ghana great, or more precisely sustainable, and able to provide more and better jobs,” she stated.
Speaking to stakeholders at the SWAPP II close-out ceremony, which was organised by Solidaridad West Africa, she noted that the programme had made a substantial contribution to the industry’s sustainable growth.
She acknowledged that there are still some unresolved problems, though.
“We are pleased that we could not only contribute to this success through SWAPP but were able to bring in other Swiss-financed programmes to align, use synergies and complement the effort.
“A lot has been reached through joint-efforts and we are proud to be part. However, SWAPP II in Ghana has not reached all its targets. There are different reasons for this. But one is certainly with the set-up of the Tree Crop Development Authority,” she said.
SWAPP, a four-year programme, was implemented between 2018 and 2022. It sought to transform the West African palm oil sector into an inclusive and sustainable sector through micro, small and medium enterprises that provide large-scale yield intensification and farm rehabilitation services to oil palm farmers and efficient processing of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
It was funded by the Swiss government through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and Embassy of the Netherlands in Accra.