Hundreds of women and young people, small businesses and smallholder farmers in Ghana are set to benefit from new skills, market opportunities and cleaner energy solutions through a new partnership between IDH-Ghana and Olam Agri.
The cooperation will connect small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and smallholder farmers participating in the Women in Sourcing and Enterprise (WISE) program, an initiative of the Mastercard Foundation and IDH, to Olam Agri’s extensive food and agricultural value chain.
The partnership between IDH, a development-focused international NGO, and Olam, is designed to address practical barriers that prevent small businesses and farmers from growing, including limited access to markets, skills gaps, weak links across supply chains and high cost of energy.
A total of 30 young women will begin the pilot session of the Bakers’ Academy, with a possible scale-up. The pilot will equip participants with practical baking and entrepreneurship skills, along with an industry-recognised certification. For young people, this means skills that can improve their chances of finding work or starting their own businesses; for existing bakers, it provides an opportunity to expand their businesses and increase their customer reach.
The partnership will also strengthen opportunities for smallholder farmers by supporting drought-resistant wheat variety trials in Ghana and exploring local sourcing. The initiative aims to help more local producers participate in markets and benefit from growing demand.
Impact is expected to extend beyond skills and market access, with IDH and Olam Agri piloting the production and use of rice briquettes as an alternative to traditional fuels used for baking. The initiative will give bakers an opportunity to adopt cleaner energy while creating new use and potential for agricultural by-products.
Together, these interventions are intended to create a more connected value chain in which skills, production, processing and markets reinforce one another.
Robert Asugre, Country Head, IDH-Ghana, said the partnership would help strengthen Ghana’s food system from the ground up. “Through our partnership with Olam Agri in Ghana, we are supporting initiatives that create opportunities for young women across the agricultural value chain, including the Bakers’ Academy, clean energy solutions and wheat varietal trials. Together, we aim to strengthen market linkages, promote local sourcing and support entrepreneurship by equipping young women with practical skills and access to business opportunities. This collaboration aims to foster more inclusive economic participation, improve livelihoods and strengthen local economies”.
Baibhav Biswas, Country Head for Ghana at Olam Agri, said, “The partnership is focused on creating opportunities that translate into better livelihoods. This partnership builds on the recent MoU with IDH and reflects our shared ambition to transform agricultural markets in ways that create better incomes, better jobs and more resilient communities in Ghana. By connecting SMEs and smallholder farmers to sustainable market opportunities, we are helping build a more inclusive and sustainable agricultural sector in Ghana.”
“The initiative builds on Olam Agri’s existing investment in skills development. In 2025, the company partnered with the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector through the ‘Raising Generations Initiative’, which has focused on strengthening the baking and entrepreneurial capabilities of local bakers”, added Naa Dzama Masopeh, Communication and Sustainability Manager at Olam Agri Ghana.
Our focus is on ensuring that training leads to real opportunities. By giving women and young people practical skills, recognised certification and stronger links to the food industry, we can help them build businesses, secure employment and create opportunities for others.
“This partnership in Ghana with IDH is an important step forward, building on the MoU between Olam Agri and IDH, to support entrepreneurship in the baking sector and advance sustainable agricultural practices that will create opportunities for women and young people and deliver lasting impact across Ghana’s value chain”, added Shailendra Mishra, Global Head of Sustainability, Food and Feed at Olam Agri.
Through the partnership, IDH and Olam Agri aim to ensure that support reaches beyond training and projects to deliver measurable improvements in livelihoods, enterprise growth and participation in agricultural markets.
The ultimate measure of success will be the opportunities created, including more people with employable skills, more businesses able to grow, stronger markets for farmers and more sustainable ways of producing and processing food in Ghana.
