Private Extension Service Delivery in the Vegetable Sector Hanson Arthur GhanaVeg Fund Manager and Monitoring Expert 19 June, 2014

Background Ghana’s vegetable sector characterized by:  Low availability and knowledge of improved inputs  Limited agronomic skills and practices  Poor food safety for both domestic and export market  Poor postharvest management practices => Ideally all these are easy for extension to address

…but how’s Ghana’s extension system doing?  Government’s dominate role post-independence diminishing...  Production orientation and general recommendation; no longer helpful to the commercial farmer  Only about 10% of farmers reached by extension agents 1  1: 1,300 ratio of AEA to farmer woefully inadequate 1  Government under pressure to be efficient and reduce costs 1 SEND Ghana, 2014

ToR Requirements a) Study the feasibility of a private sector-led extension system for the vegetable sector b) If feasible, define specific models most in demand within the sector c) Outline clear economic viability and cost recovery approaches for most preferred model(s) d) Profile existing private sector companies, assess their capacity and willingness to provide this service on a purely commercial basis

Deliverables  A Project Proposal detailing the key activities and how they would be carried out, and the key milestones  A Study Report, that clearly includes: ● The feasibility, cost-effectiveness and sustainability of a sector led extension regime ● A proposed model(s) of extension service delivery adaptable to the Ghanaian context with the underpinning reasons for such a model(s) ● A matrix of potential private sector companies capable and willing to provide such extension services ● A demonstration of how this system will be funded and be made commercially viable  A Sample BO Call that can be used to support such a project

Are there any examples?  Syngenta Advisory Services in Pakistan ● Divides country into 4 zones ● Each zone divided into 3-5 regions ● Each region divided 5-15 territories depending on scale of targeted crops grown ● Territory staff made of Technical Sales Officer (TSOs) and several Field Officers (FOs) ● FOs have 12 years of education and prior experience of farming in the area, but trained regularly in crop management and pesticide use ● Company selects and trains host farmers (50-100) per territory to enhance outreach

What the advisory services entail  Introducing new pesticides  Providing technical services to progressive farmers at their doorsteps  Free demonstration trials on progressive farmers’ fields  arranging field days to show results of pesticides / IPM methods on crops

Thank you!