Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her Ghanaian counterparts on the use of UK aid to support small-scale farmers in that country.

I spoke to the President of Ghana and others in Government when I visited Ghana earlier this year about furthering economic development in the country. Those discussions included how we could help to foster growth in the agricultural sector in ways that will benefit poor farmers. I visited sites where DFID is supporting initiatives to do this.

In Ghana, DFID has three projects whose primary aim is to enable poor farmers to earn more income. One is centred on two irrigation schemes that will benefit thousands of small-scale farmers. Another is an investment fund to help agricultural businesses. The third provides support to improve the way that markets work for poor people, concentrating on six agricultural products. DFID aims to ensure that 30,000 poor producers in Ghana have improved access to services by March 2016.