Rigorous policy analysis is important. And understanding how to communicate the results of that analysis in a clear succinct way is critical for application to policy decisions. With this in mind, IFPRI-Ghana organized a 3-day policy brief writing workshop on 4 – 7 June 2019 for staff from the Statistical Research and Information Department (SRID), and the Policy Planning Monitoring & Evaluation Department (PPMED) of the Ministry for Food and Agriculture (MoFA).
Following on an earlier training workshop (here) that taught participants from SRID and MoFA/PPMED seasonality and price analysis, this writing workshop was geared towards improving their abilities to formally write up those results. The goal was to develop market briefs for six (6) focus crops under the current Ghana government’s flagship sector policy, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ): maize, rice, tomatoes, chili pepper, onion and soy bean.
During the workshop, researchers from IFPRI worked closely with the SRID and PPMED team sharing research and effective writing techniques and discussing the state of consumption and production of these crops. The training emphasized how to access and use various relevant local and international data platforms on trade, crop production and national economic indicators and how to build in existing literature. The final version of the briefs will be shared in the coming months.
The event forms part of an AGRA-funded program designed to strengthen capacity of MoFA staff to improve monitoring and evaluation of Planting for Food and Jobs.