Okuafo Pa is the pilot project of the Africa Program started by Eni in 2019 in cooperation with the Government of Ghana in Dormaa East, Bono Region and aligns with the 2030 Agenda of UN to contribute to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Poverty rate has been persistently worrisome, consequently, increasing forced migration rate from Africa to Europe, lack of jobs and food insecurity. In response to these main challenges, Okuafo Pa1 Project is done to promote socio-economic development through economic diversification in sustainable energy and eco-friendly agricultural development.
The scope of the project considers building a new training centre for up to 800 people, capacity building training and skill development in agribusiness, access to labour market, support for micro-credit, technical support for entrepreneurship development and climate change reduction. The project is designed to achieve its economic independence in the medium term, where the revenues from the agricultural activities cover the cost of the training such that the overall initiative does not need external assistance.
Efficient use of natural resources and reuse of waste is a concern for the sustainable development; hereof Okuafo Pa is indeed oriented to inspire momentum to reuse the waste from farming activities. One opportunity is to produce energy from waste in a broader circular economy perspective. The new agribusiness entrepreneurs become drivers of a sustainable holistic economy.
After the first year of implementation, Okuafo Pa already gathered some remarkable results. The first 800 graduates are incorporating more than 60 new cooperatives. Their initiatives focus on the development of value chains referenced of the national food security strategy (poultry, maize, etc). A dedicated credit mechanism is set up by Cassa Depositi and Prestiti (CDP), the Italian public investment bank, with European guarantees to back up local financial institutions. These initiatives are expected to stimulate the development of local value chains and provide sustainable employment opportunities. The project appraisal estimates that 5,000 people per year will benefit from the economic chain of the project. Already 200 people from the local communities were employed for the construction of the center and other 50 persons for the administration.
In support of climate action, 840,000 Mtons of CO2e are expected to be saved during the 20 years' life cycle from good agricultural practices.
The vision is to replicate the pilot in other regions of Ghana and other Sub-Saharan Countries.
