he Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Agri-Impact Limited has rolled out an ambitious and transformative program dubbed Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) to be implemented by eight Implementing Partners including NewAge Agric Solutions, National Service Scheme (NSS), Ghana Cares (MiDA), Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), TechnoServe, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Jobberman.
HAPPY is built on 3 intervention areas: i) increasing production and productivity within the poultry, rice, soybean, and tomato value chains, ii) promoting value addition, fostering entrepreneurship, and facilitating market development and iii) developing strategic policies and advancing youth, gender, social inclusion and voice and agency.
The program aims to create 326,000 dignified and fulfilling jobs for youth (70% women) and persons with disability, increase food production by 190,000 tons, generate annual revenue of over $200million, and increase agricultural productivity in rice, soybean, tomato, and poultry value chains to reduce import of strategic foods by 10%.
Under HAPPY, Agri-Impact Limited is collaborating with the E-Learning Centre of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to roll out the e-HAPPY Project. The e-HAPPY training programs seek to deepen the use of ICT, and youth-led digital solutions to transform the agri-food systems in Ghana.
The objectives of e-HAPPY Program include;
Build the capacity of 100 selected youth in the use of innovative digital technological and pedagogical tools through tailor-made coaching modules.
Train 500 trainers of trainers (TOT) youth to become HAPPY Program ambassadors to drive a technology-driven agribusiness ecosystem.
Repurpose/co-create selected content suitable for virtual environments with Agri-impact partners.
Create targeted, innovative online training/technology transfer modules based on identified needs along the Agri-food value chain.
Equip youth to use programming for integrating and programming Internet of Things (IoT) devices in agriculture while using machine learning concepts to develop models for predicting crop yields, pest outbreaks, or optimal environmental conditions based on historical data.
Leading agribusiness firm, Agri-Impact Limited, continues to invest in the professional development of its staff to drive innovation, productivity, and efficiency.
Over the years, the company has sponsored employees for specialized training programs and fellowships, reinforcing its commitment to excellence in agribusiness.
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.
I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Mastercard Foundation, Agri-Impact Limited, and the KNUST E-Learning Centre for organizing such an insightful and impactful training program (HAPPYtech Ambassadors Training, Cohort 2). The sessions on Power BI, Digital Farm Management, SMS-based Agricultural Services, Multimedia Use in Agriculture, Online Financial Literacy, and Effective Branding Linkages have been truly enlightening and transformative.
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.
The second cohort of the HAPPYTech Ambassadors Training has commenced under the HAPPY Project.
The training, initiated by the Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Agri-Impact Limited, is to equip participants with skills in digital agriculture, innovation, and collaboration.
Professor Nana Ewusi-Mensah, the project lead, emphasized the significance of the training.
The staff of Agri-Impact Limited recently conducted a field trip to several communities participating in the HAPPY Program across the country. The purpose of the trip was to monitor the program's progress and gather valuable feedback for review and improvement.
The visit focused on assessing the impact of the project in selected Catholic Relief Services (CRS) project communities, including Kpulgini, Kulguduli, Wapuli, and Garimata Northern Region with particular attention to input quality, distribution effectiveness, and overall project success.
