jobs for youth

Francisca Avansi once sat at home in the Tandema community of the Upper East Region in Ghana—an unemployed SHS graduate with little hope and no income. 

Today, she stands as a powerful example of how one opportunity can spark a lifetime of change.

Thanks to the Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) Project, Francisca’s life has been completely transformed.

Teye-Wayo Eliasca Petra, a 22-year-old high school graduate from Adakope, once stood in front of a preschool classroom teaching young children. 

Having completed her education in 2020, she pursued teaching out of necessity—not passion. With parents who were farmers, agriculture was always close to home, but never part of her plans.

That changed when she heard about the HAPPY Program through an uncle.

Curiosity led her to join the program, and what began as an experiment has become a life-changing decision.

In the heart of the Shai Osudoku district, where agriculture is a lifeline for many, a remarkable story of transformation unfolds—Once a food vendor selling beans and gari (popularly called gobɛ in Ghana), Portia Azanda has risen to become a certified tractor operator and farm supervisor of 62 hectares of rice fields. 

In a small rural community once burdened by hardship and high youth unemployment, a quiet transformation is underway. Thanks to Aglow Farms and the HAPPY Project, hope is taking root—and lives are flourishing.

For Mavis Donkor, a mother of seven, life used to be a daily struggle. Feeding her children, affording healthcare, and simply surviving were challenges she faced alone. 

“There were days I would cry, not knowing where the next meal would come from,” she recalls. “When my child fell sick, I couldn’t even afford to take them to the hospital.”

Elizabeth Asantewaa is a young, passionate agriculturist from Ghana whose journey in agriculture has been shaped by hands-on training, perseverance, and the empowering support of the HAPPY Program. 

A graduate of Ohawu Agric College in the Volta Region, where she studied poultry, catfish, rabbit, and vegetable production. This was more than education—it was the beginning of a dream.
After her studies, she was posted to Papao for her national service. 

As a graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the transition from academic theory to real-world practice came through an unexpected but life-changing opportunity: the HAPPY Broiler Project.

Jennifer, who completed her studies in Agriculture with a specialization in Animal Science in 2023, encountered the program in 2024 during her national service. 

Faustina Twenewaa, a resilient young woman from Dormaa Ahenkro, is living proof that with the right opportunity, lives can be transformed. Once a pharmacy shop attendant struggling to make ends meet, Faustina now supervises a 15,000-bird broiler operation at GINAAACO Farms—all thanks to the Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) Program.

TechnoServe, a leader in business solutions to poverty, has launched the implementation of grant to support 168 microentrepreneurs and agri-SMEs along the poultry, tomato, rice, and soybean value chains in Ghana as part of the Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) Program.

Cynthia Ohenewaa Botchway is one of the many young Ghanaians whose future is being transformed through the HAPPY Program—an initiative of Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Agri-Impact Limited.

Working under the HAPPY Broiler Project with Ransboat Poultry Farms, Cynthia is building practical skills, gaining leadership experience, and paving the way for her own agribusiness dream.

“I’ve learned so much through this project. I currently serve as a young supervisor and oversee the work of other participants through the broiler project,” she shares proudly.

As a freelance journalist, a wife, and a mother of two from Ashaiman, Sefakor Ferkpeh never imagined herself working in rice fields. But today, she proudly stands as a participant of the HAPPY Program, cultivating 2.2 hectares of rice with MiDA, a consortium partner of the HAPPY Program and Agrokings.

Sefakor learned about the HAPPY Program—an initiative of Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Agri-Impact Limited—through her former boss during her university internship. Having written extensively on agribusiness, the opportunity sparked her curiosity.