Gordon Kunatighr Ekekpi is an Agricultural Development Expert with over 40 years experience in the field of Community Agricultural Development. He holds a Master of Philosophy (M. Phil.) degree in Agricultural Extension, a Bachelor of Science (B. Sc.) degree in Agriculture (Animal Science Major) and a National Diploma in General Agriculture, all from the University of Ghana, Legon. Through short courses, he gained additional skills in agricultural project design and appraisal; monitoring and evaluation; institutional development and training; project planning and implementation; community mobilization and project management and co-ordination. Gordon worked in government institutions in advisory capacity in the formulation and review of national agricultural policies, design and management of agricultural programmes at the regional and district levels. He provided technical assistance to various research studies in programmes design, implementation and impact evaluations including that of international NGO partners.

He facilitated multi-institutional linkages, especially for research-extension-farmer linkages (between CSIR, MoFA, farmers and the NGO sectors), for agricultural program planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; the integration of crosscutting developmental issues including HIV/AIDS, gender, environment and conflict prevention, resolution and management into the agricultural agenda. With his in-depth knowledge of MoFA’s structures and policies including decentralised planning as well as main line public extension delivery system, he trained several agricultural extension staff of the Ministry in various agricultural extension methodologies and facilitated several agricultural development and planning workshops.

In terms of experience in management of donor-funded projects, Gordon has managed Global Affairs Canada funded projects notably: Resilient and Sustainable Livelihood Transformation (RESULT) Project in Upper East and Upper West Regions of Ghana and FARMER (Responsive Mechanisms in Extension & Research) Project in Northern Ghana. He was a coordinator for AFD (Agence Française de Développement)-sponsored Rice Sector Support Project (RSSP) that operated in Northern Ghana and the Volta Region; and coordinated the Smallholder Rehabilitation and Development Programme (SRDP) in the Northern Region of Ghana, sponsored by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

He has not only consulted for several international organisations but also contributed to local politics as Assemblyman (Government Appointee, Gushiegu-Karaga District Assembly, 1992 – 1996 and Nandom District Assembly, 2013 – 2014) and Presiding Member, Lawra District Assembly (2010 – 2011). He is a member of the Ghana Association of Animal Production (GSAP) and Food and Nutrition Security Network, Ghana and has numerous technical reports and five journal publications to his credit.

Name: Mr. Gordon Kunatighr Ekekpi

E-mail: gekekpi@gmail.com 

Year Graduated: Animal Science, 1990

Institutional Affiliation: RESULT (ACDEP) Project

Theme of Presentation: Serving Ghana- Experiences of a Civil Servant in the Agricultural Sector Succeeding in the Global Organic Niche Market.

Date of Presentation: 11/10/2021