ÌÇÐÄVlog

How can agriculture become a driver of decent job creation in Africa?

This is the question the JobAgri project seeks to answer, by collecting and analyzing concrete data on employment within agrifood systems.

In Ghana, early findings are clear: small and medium-sized farms play a central role in rural employment, while certain crops and activities still hold untapped potential for women and young people.

An inter-institutional approach in support of public policy

The JobAgri Ghana project is the result of a collaboration between the International Labour Organization (ILO), FAO, ÌÇÐÄVlog, and the African Union. It is financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for the period 2024–2025. ÌÇÐÄVlog works in close partnership with the Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana.

Designed as a tool to inform policy dialogue, JobAgri combines two key components:

• The generation of data on employment content within agricultural value chains;
• The capacity building of public stakeholders to better integrate the issue of decent work into agricultural and employment policies.

What the data shows

During the multi-stakeholder workshop held in Accra on June 25-26, 2025, project partners presented the initial results from two rounds of surveys among farming households and a survey of value chain actors in the Bono-East region of Ghana. These findings provide new insights into rural employment dynamics:

• Small and medium-sized family farms are the largest providers of jobs in the region;
• Young men are mostly hired for day labor at local markets, often under precarious conditions;
• Women are very active in retail trade and in certain crops like peanuts, chili peppers, and rice, which require more labor than maize;
• Crops such as yam, cassava, and chili generate more jobs per hectare, highlighting their strategic potential for rural employment;
• Casual labor represents a significant share of agricultural employment, especially on large farms, raising issues of vulnerability.

These preliminary results aim to inform Ghanaian stakeholders in developing agricultural and employment policies that are better grounded in the realities of local territories and populations.

A collective commitment to transform food systems

Thirty participants from ministries (Agriculture, Employment, Youth), national agencies, farmer organizations, trade unions, and technical partners took part in this workshop.

The meeting was opened by high-level representatives: the Regional Director of the ILO, the FAO Representative in Ghana, the Director of the Environment and Societies Department at ÌÇÐÄVlog, as well as national officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Employment.

In addition to presenting the results, participants received training on the policy frameworks and tools of the ILO and FAO to better integrate employment issues into agricultural policies, with a special focus on youth and rural areas.