About us

The Livelihood and Agriculture Programme (LAP) is one of the sectors within the Human Development Office of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO). This sector is dedicated to implementing projects and programs that aim to enhance food and nutrition security, as well as improve the incomes of households.

LAP focuses on several strategic objectives, including:

  1. Communities’ resilience towards effects of changing climate improved
  2. Communities practice sustainable natural resource management
  3. Local innovations developed, documented and promoted
  4. Promote sustainable agriculture practices
  5. Income of smallholder farmers improved.
  6. Institutional strengthening and coordination improved

Main Domains

  1. Sustainable Agriculture Promotion
  2. Climate resilience
  3. Enterprise development
  4. Farmer groups developments
  5. Dry season gardening
  6. Savings and Internal learning
  7. Local innovations development

Through these initiatives, LAP works to support and empower communities in achieving sustainable development.

Main Programme Office(s)

The main programme office is located within the Catholic Bishop Secretariat, which houses the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO). The director of LAP operates from this office and supervises all operations at the two centres (i.e., the Farmer Training Centre and the NABOCADO Bongo Centre).

Farmer Training Centre (FTC)

The Farmer Training Centre (FTC), located in Pusu-Namango, was established in 2002 due to a high demand for farmer schools. This demand arose from evaluating a project called the Integrated Village Development Programme (IVIDEP) which ran from 1997 to 2001. This project provided microfinance to women, improved water access for irrigation, and enhanced the capacities of farmers, with support from Felix Foundation, Belgium.  FTC is currently responsible for implementing projects and programs at the field level. The centre is headed by a project manager who works alongside project officers. Additionally, the centre undertakes various internal revenue generation activities aimed at ensuring its sustainability. Currently, the FTC is implementing projects in the West and East Mamprusi districts of the Northeast Region, as well as in the Talensi, and Nabdam districts of the Upper East Region.

NABOCADO Bongo Centre

The NABOCADO centre is located at Bongo Anafubisi behind the District Chief Executive Residence and mid-way to the Bongo Technical Institute (TVET school). It was first established in 1983 with the main focus on agroforestry promotion within the Bongo enclave. It is currently responsible for the implementation of projects and programmes at the community and district level including Bongo, Kassena Nankana West, Builsa South and Tempane districts as well as the Builsa North Municipal in the upper East Region. It also runs some internally generated fund projects including catfish production, local fowl and vegetable production.

Institute for Sustainable Farming (ISF)

The ISF is an institute established in 2024 in partnership with Katholische Landvolkbewegung Deutschland of Germany and Caritas Uganda to train small-scale farmers to become professionals in farming as a business. The institute is still at the establishment state as it is putting up demonstration farms and other infrastructure for residential training of youth and farmers in general. The first batch of student completed the first model of training on Fish and pig farming as business. The centre goal is to serve as an agricultural training centre for the Ecclesiastical Provence of Tamale covering Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, Yendi Diocese, Damongo Diocese, Wa Diocese and Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tamale. It is located at Pusu-Namongo in the premises of the Farmer Training Centre.

Projects/ Programmes

The Strengthening of Smallholder-Farmers Resilience towards a Changing Climate and Promotion of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture in the Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga project (SCRAS 1041 ZG)

The project is being funded by MISEREOR of Germany and is a three-year project which started on the 1st April 2023. The project is a continuation of previous project implemented since 2011 in phases of 3 years each and will end in 2026. The goal of the project is to enable rural households to increase their food security and nutrition diversity and become more resilient to climate change effects.

The project is promoting ecologically friendly agricultural practices to help smallholder farmers adapt, mitigate and build resilience to the effects of climate change on their livelihood activities particularly agriculture.

The project is facilitating smallholder farmers to intensify the adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAP), and adoption of local innovations to respond to the effects of changing climate. The project is also advocating for the implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures to build communities resiliency to adapt to the effects of climate change. The project is further facilitating women to engage in various enterprises for in income using the saving and internal learning Concept(SILC) as a vehicle.  The objectives the project is.

  1. Smallholder farmers intensify Sustainable Practices in farming and livestock keeping
  2. The targeted communities are committed to implementing their community adaptation action plans (CAAPs)
  3.  Targeted women and groups have increased assets and income

Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY)

The Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) program is a co-created, consortium-managed project funded by Mastercard Foundation. Its primary goal is to catalyze transformative investments in the rice, soybean, tomato, and poultry value chains. The program’s overarching objectives include boosting production volumes, curbing imports, and strategically fostering employment opportunities targeting youth, women, and people with disabilities.

NABOCADO LAP is implementing the project as a sub-recipient to Catholic Relief Service (CRS) in five districts namely Builsa south District, Builsa north Municipal, Kassena Nankana west district, West Mamprusi municipal and East Mamprusi municipal.

NABOCADO together with other sub-recipients are working with CRS to achieve the following  

  1. Job Creation: Establishment, sustenance, and enhancement of 19,325 dignified and fulfilling jobs, with women comprising 70% of this workforce.
  2. Increased Agricultural Output: Realization of a 20% increase in the national output of rice and soybeans.
  3. Expanded Cultivation: Expansion of cultivated land to exceed 15,656 hectares.
  4. Import Reduction: The initiative is expected to curtail the national import expenditure, resulting in savings exceeding USD $28 million over a four-year period.

Feed the Future Resilience in Northern Ghana Systems Strengthening Activities

The livelihood and advocacy directorate of NABOCADO in collaboration with government decentralized departments at the district level, such as the Department of Agriculture and Ghana Health Service in Mamprungu Moagduri and Tempane districts is implementing the Feed the Future Resilience in Northern Ghana Systems Strengthening Activity in 40 communities across the two districts. The Activity involves implementation of innovative agriculture and livelihoods interventions that improve practices to advance the well-being and resilience of WRA and CU5 through promoting the production and consumption of nutrition-sensitive crops and animal protein. This will be achieved by increasing the capacity of women and youth through trainings and creating alternative income generating sources in times of unanticipated financial hardship among women of reproductive age in the two districts covering 40 communities.

Professionalisation of Small-Scale Farmers Agriculture (PROSSFA)

The project is sponsored by Katholische Landvolkbewegung of Germany with the aim of facilitating small scale farmers professionalisation of agriculture through strengthening of south-south and south-north cooperations. The project is being implemented in partnership with Caritas Uganda. The institute for sustainable farming is the main implementor of this project under the Livelihood and agriculture Programme of NABOCADO.  The project focus on building the capacities of youth to take farming as a business. The project is carrying out residential trainings for youth focusing on hands on practical acquisition of farming skills and peer to peer learning through international exchange program. Under this project demonstration farms are established on Catfish production, pig production, and Local vegetable production

Solar for Organic Local Vegetables for Enhancing Asylum Seekers Food and Income Security (SOLVE)  

Since 2023, many Burkina be nationals fled to Ghana due to the activities of the violent extremist in their home country. Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO) in collaboration with Ghana refugee board and UNHCR established a reception and settlement centre for these Asylum seekers in Tarikom in the Bawku West District. NABOCADO have been working with partners to provide health services, education services, protection services and food needs to these Asylum Seekers in the Tarikom reception and settlement centre.

Currently, the main challenge of the Asylum seekers is their inability to meet their food and nutrition needs, and the Solar for Organic Local Vegetables for Enhancing Asylum Seekers Food and Income Security (SOLVE) project has been designed to contribute to addressing their food and nutrition security needs by offering them the opportunity to have access to vegetables for consumption and sales.

The project is sponsored by United state of America Embassy in Ghana through the Julia taf grant.  The one-year project is aimed at improving food and nutrition, and income of asylum seekers in the Tarikom settlement area is Bawku west district of upper east. The project started in October 2024 and have seen various activities been implemented.

Madison Diocese

The Madison Diocese funded a project in “Dry Season Gardening” in the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese from 2023 to 2024. The initiative provided rural women with solar-powered boreholes for vegetable production during the seven-month dry season enabling all year-round cultivation. The main aim was to improve the nutrition security and income of rural households.

The major activities for the project include.

  1. Establishment of solar mechanised dry season Gardens
  2. Support promising farmers to access inputs to increase production
  3. Facilitate the formation of Saving and internal lending concept (SILC) groups
  4. Provide technical support on dry season farming and conduct regular monitoring on production activities