Some Ghanaian cocoa farmers are recording improved crop yields and incomes by 160 percent under an agricultural finance pilot to expand access to savings services in rural areas. Working in partnership with Opportunity International, the MasterCard Foundation has provided 23,000 agricultural loans to over one million depositors and borrowers within the past four years. The $8 million dollar “Financial Services for Rural Communities and Smallholder Farmers in Africa” Program is being implemented in Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda. President and CEO of MasterCard Foundation, Reeta Roy, has observed that the innovative model has allowed high returns for farmers in Ghana. “A very important part of the project is to help farmers not only to have access to savings but to have access to extension services, fertilizer [and] planting techniques so that they can increase the yield of their crops and they can be plugged into the value chain so there is market access for their crops”, she told Luv Biz Report in an interview. Farmers in 33 districts and six regions of Ghana are presently accessing the agricultural financing scheme. According to Reeta, the farmers’ savings are used to expand farms and diversify to new crops whilst financing their children’s education. The Foundation also partners HFC Bank to better serve the financial needs of young people with focus on financial literacy, planning, budgeting and savings. The Toronto-based MasterCard Foundation was established in 2006 to advance microfinance and youth learning to promote financial inclusion and prosperity. Through collaboration with committed partners in 48 developing countries, the Foundation is helping people living in poverty to access opportunities to learn and prosper. Over $600 million have so far been committed to a range of projects – with almost 70 percent of the investments in 22 African countries. Recently, the $500 million MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program was launched to empower 15,000 young underprivileged Africans with the requisite educational skills to participate in a competitive global economy. The comprehensive educational support approach involves the provision of scholarship to cover tuition, boarding, books and pocket money as well as mentorship and internship opportunities for beneficiaries. According to Reeta Roy, one of the unique objectives of the project is to profile high achieving young people who would thrive in a learning environment. “We are also looking for young people who already have some of the characteristics of leadership and the ability and desire to do something with their lives and give back to community”, she noted. In Ghana, the Foundation has a ten-year $13million partnership with Ashesi University to provide tertiary education to over 200 young people. Another project with the NGO, Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), looks at girl education at the secondary and post-secondary levels – focusing on rural girls with disadvantaged background to complete Senior High School and others to access financial literacy for gainful employment. Reeta Roy has emphasized that the Scholars Program provides employability skills that lead to job creation. “I hope that this programme sends a signal not only to young people who have higher aspirations, but it also becomes something which other donors, other organizations which are doing scholarships will also be inspired and continue to put those resources towards enabling access to quality education for young people” she said.