OHLGS – Wednesday 23 May 2018: The Local Government Service (LGS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Care International/Northern Ghana Governance Activity (NGGA) to train key staff of local government agencies for improved agricultural productivity. The Head of Service, Ing. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur represented the LGS while Mr. Yawo Douvon, Country Director signed on behalf of Care International. The Care – NGGA is a five-year project being financed by USAID through the US Governments Feed the Future Initiative. The project is being implemented by a consortium led by CARE International and other implementing partners which includes Action Aid Ghana, SEND-Ghana and WANEP-Ghana.
A number of bottlenecks including weak decentralized systems, non-inclusion of women and limited participation of non-state actors are major constraints that impede agricultural productivity in Northern Ghana. The capacity building intervention was therefore aimed to address skills gaps on resource mobilization and management, development coordination and citizen engagement to strengthen collaboration, improve service delivery and increase responsive governance to agricultural development by subnational governments. In all, 28 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and 3 Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) would benefit from the training.
The Head of Service indicated that partnership was the first ever direct collaboration between the two institutions and had come at a time when decentralization had advanced to the point where central government agencies at the district level have been integrated into the District Assemblies, offering a great opportunity for them to participate jointly in local governance. He expressed gratitude to the partners for the confidence reposed in the Local Government Service.
The MoU signing ceremony was witnessed by the Chief Director and Directors from the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS), team from CARE International and a section of the media.