jobs for youth

As a graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the transition from academic theory to real-world practice came through an unexpected but life-changing opportunity: the HAPPY Broiler Project.

Jennifer, who completed her studies in Agriculture with a specialization in Animal Science in 2023, encountered the program in 2024 during her national service. 

Faustina Twenewaa, a resilient young woman from Dormaa Ahenkro, is living proof that with the right opportunity, lives can be transformed. Once a pharmacy shop attendant struggling to make ends meet, Faustina now supervises a 15,000-bird broiler operation at GINAAACO Farms—all thanks to the Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) Program.

TechnoServe, a leader in business solutions to poverty, has launched the implementation of grant to support 168 microentrepreneurs and agri-SMEs along the poultry, tomato, rice, and soybean value chains in Ghana as part of the Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) Program.

Cynthia Ohenewaa Botchway is one of the many young Ghanaians whose future is being transformed through the HAPPY Program—an initiative of Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Agri-Impact Limited.

Working under the HAPPY Broiler Project with Ransboat Poultry Farms, Cynthia is building practical skills, gaining leadership experience, and paving the way for her own agribusiness dream.

“I’ve learned so much through this project. I currently serve as a young supervisor and oversee the work of other participants through the broiler project,” she shares proudly.

As a freelance journalist, a wife, and a mother of two from Ashaiman, Sefakor Ferkpeh never imagined herself working in rice fields. But today, she proudly stands as a participant of the HAPPY Program, cultivating 2.2 hectares of rice with MiDA, a consortium partner of the HAPPY Program and Agrokings.

Sefakor learned about the HAPPY Program—an initiative of Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Agri-Impact Limited—through her former boss during her university internship. Having written extensively on agribusiness, the opportunity sparked her curiosity.

About 50 young women have received intensive training in broiler production under the Harnessing Agriculture Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) Program, a collaborative initiative between the Mastercard Foundation and Agri-Impact Limited.  

The trainees, mobilized by the National Service Authority (NSA), gathered at the NSA Farm in Papao, Haatso, for an intensive session on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. 

This latest cohort brings the total number of women trained in broiler production at the facility in the past two weeks to 80.

As part of efforts to enhance the effectiveness of the National Service Authority’s (NSA) role in the Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) Program, a strategic meeting was held with the leadership of Agri-Impact Limited, a leading agribusiness firm. 
 
HAPPY Program is a partnership between the Mastercard Foundation and Agri-Impact Limited with the focus of enabling job opportunities for 326,000 youth aged 15 to 35 in the poultry, tomato, rice and soya value chains.

In just one year, the Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) Program has become a beacon of hope for thousands of young Ghanaians, proving that agriculture can be a transformative career path.
 
Rolled out in December 2023, this four-year initiative by the Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Agri-Impact Limited and a consortium of eight partners has facilitated dignified, fulfilling work opportunities for over 94,000 young people across Ghana’s agricultural sector within a year.