The Foundation for Community Empowerment Programme (FOCEP) was established 2001 but officially registered in 2017 with Registrar General Department with registration number CG082032017 and with Department of Social welfare with registration number DWS/7470 FOCEP represents an effective approach and a practical solution to the increasing and widespread vulnerability, poverty and deprivation among rural and peri-urban communities as well as low income urban communities in Ghana. FOCEP has a numerical staff strength of twelve (12) staff (4 females and 8 males) FOCEP for the past 8 years have been working closely with smallholder farmers, Farmer Based Organization, Farmer Groups, commercial farmers, aggregators, Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) and other relevant development partners to provide technical assistance to farmers and linking them to potential markets and facilitating value addition on agricultural produces.
FOCEP operates within the following agricultural commodity value-chain of maize, rice, soybeans, cowpea and groundnuts in the Mamprugu-Moagduri District in the North East Region.
FOCEP collaborates with the District Department of Agriculture (DDA) in all its field implementation activities with smallholder farmers, farmer groups, aggregators, processors and other relevant actors in the agricultural value-chain. In view of the operational activities of FOCEP in the District Department of Agriculture has captured the in its database as a strategic stakeholder in the agricultural value-chain in the District.
FOCEP is currently working on similar interventions in partnership with USAID-Ghana Trade Investment Activity in the Mamprugu-Moagduri District in promoting Sustainable Production of Groundnuts and Cowpea for Economic Empowerment of women, Youth and PWDs in Mamprugu-Moaduri. Under this intervention, FOCEP has organized several capacity building for 1000 smallholder farmers and farmer groups in the groundnut and cowpea value-chain on Good Agronomic Practices (GAPs) Aflatoxin prevention and post-harvest management practices and electronic trading such as the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) platform. It is important to note that under this intervention two grinding mills have been procured to be installed in two strategic communities namely Kubori and Yagba to facilitate processing and value-addition of cowpea, groundnut, maize, soybean within the agricultural value-chain in the Mamprugu-Moagduri District.
Another similar intervention implemented from 2022 to 2023 in the Mamprugu-Moagduri District which is worth mentioning is the training of smallholder farmers, aggregators, Farmer Based Organization (FBOs) with special emphasis on women, youth and persons with disabilities on how to build resilience in the maize, soybeans, groundnuts and cowpea during external shocks like COVID-19 pandemic, climate change among other externalities. Under this intervention, 2000 smallholder farmers were trained on agricultural resilience, how to use comprehensive mechanization to build resilience in the agricultural value-chain.
FOCEP has 12 committed and dedicated staff facilitating the implementation of project activities