How to Access USAID Feed the Future Grants in Ghana

If you run an agribusiness, farmer cooperative, or agricultural NGO in Northern Ghana, you may be eligible for grant funding through USAID's Feed the Future programme — one of the largest active sources of agribusiness grants in Ghana right now. But accessing it requires understanding how the programme actually works, which organisations qualify, and what the grant money can and cannot pay for.

This guide explains everything you need to know, drawn from the current programme design of the Feed the Future Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity, which runs until March 2027 and is administered by ACDI/VOCA as the prime implementing partner.

What is Feed the Future Ghana?

Feed the Future is the United States Government's global hunger and food security initiative, implemented in Ghana by USAID. The current flagship programme — the Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity — is a five-year, $35.9 million investment that builds on over a decade of USAID work in Northern Ghana through predecessor programmes like ADVANCE I and II.

MSR is not a traditional subsidy programme. It operates on a market systems development logic — meaning it funds interventions that fix structural problems in agricultural markets rather than simply giving inputs or cash to farmers.

Who can apply?

MSR operates through sub-grants administered by ACDI/VOCA. Eligible applicants include:

• Agro-processing SMEs — companies involved in processing, aggregating, or adding value to agricultural commodities
• Farmer-based organisations (FBOs) and cooperatives — with formalised governance structures and a track record of collective marketing or input procurement
• Input dealers and agri-input traders — particularly those serving smallholder farmers in underserved districts
• NGOs and development organisations — as prime implementers for specific activity components
• Business service providers — consultancies and advisory firms facilitating finance deals between agribusinesses and financial institutions

Which value chains does MSR support?

MSR targets 12 specific value chains. Your project must work within at least one of these:

What does the grant actually pay for?

MSR operates three distinct funding windows under its Innovative Finance Grant Window:

1. Co-Investment Facility

For agribusinesses and anchor firms seeking co-financing for productive investments. Grant range: approximately $10,000–$150,000. The applicant must provide matching investment from their own resources.

2. Input Guarantee Product

For financial service providers and input dealers. MSR provides a guarantee on agri-input loans extended to smallholder farmers or SMEs. Grant equivalent: $5,000–$25,000 per beneficiary group.

3. Transaction Advisory Support

For business service providers — including agribusiness consultants — who facilitate financing deals. Payment is performance-based. Bonus payments are available for deals involving women-led enterprises, youth-led businesses, or climate adaptation investments.

How to apply — a step-by-step guide

1. 01
   Confirm your eligibilityVerify your district is within MSR's 17-district Zone of Influence and that your value chain is on the eligible list. These are hard requirements with no exceptions.
2. 02
   Contact the MSR Activity office in TamaleMSR sub-grants are not advertised on a public portal. Contact ACDI/VOCA's MSR office in Tamale to learn about currently open windows and obtain the Application for Sub-Award (ASA) form.
3. 03
   Prepare your organisation's documentationYou will need: certificate of registration, bank account in the organisation's name, evidence of co-financing commitment, letters of support from partner FBOs or commercial buyers, and CVs of your project lead and finance officer.
4. 04
   Write a market systems narrative — not a welfare narrativeYour application must explain the specific structural market failure your project will fix. Applications that describe farmer poverty without identifying a systemic cause consistently score lower.
5. 05
   Document your leveraged investmentSecure a letter of intent from your co-investor before submitting. A named financial institution with a specific amount is far stronger than a general statement of intent.
6. 06
   Highlight women and youth participationIf your enterprise serves women, youth (under 35), or persons with disability, state this explicitly with evidence. MSR has specific bonus payment mechanisms for these groups.

What makes an application fail?

• Operations outside the 17-district Zone of Influence — a hard disqualifier with no appeal path
• No confirmed co-financing — vague statements about "expected" investment are routinely rejected
• Welfare framing instead of market systems framing — describing farmer poverty rather than a specific structural market failure
• Missing registration documents or no organisational bank account — basic compliance gaps that disqualify strong applications
• No beneficiary disaggregation — MSR requires data on women, youth, and persons with disability from the start

Is your organisation ready to apply?

Preparing a competitive MSR application requires a clear diagnosis of the market failure you are addressing, a credible leverage plan, confirmed partnerships, and documentation that most organisations do not have assembled by default.

At AgriValue Advisory Consult, our Funding-Ready Pack™ service prepares agribusinesses, cooperatives, and NGOs for DFI funding applications — including USAID MSR sub-grants, IFAD/MOFA matching grants, and AfDB Agriculture Fast Track applications.