Two project communities, Gold Coast Camp and Nkranfuom had the opportunity of hosting government officials, community representatives and technical partners and Community Engagement Partners (CEPS) of iMPACT from Ghana and La Cote d’Ivoire for a day. It was a forum for the stakeholders to witness firsthand the socio-economic impact of the project on the communities in order to plan for the remaining year of pilot phase and possible extension of the project.
On interaction with the community members, the people highlighted the impact of the approach in getting the community members involvement in project implementation process. They were appreciative of the support the technical partners were giving to improving key socio-economic challenges in the communities. The project has facilitated change in attitude towards their own community development among other issues.
A stakeholder conference hosted by iMPACT Ghana facilitated by GTZ in Accra following the community visit brought together government officials from Ghana, technical partners – GTZ, Africare, IFESH, IITA/STCP, ICI and Mars Incorporated - and representatives from project communities in both countries. The two day conference afforded stakeholders the opportunity to assess the achievements within the first two years of the project, to learn and adopt strategies to facilitating effective coordination and partnership, community mobilisation and implementation of project activities in the areas of agriculture and environment, water, nutrition, health, education, labour and gender. The conference ended successful with stakeholders and individual participants identifying key points for action for greater impact in the coming year.