Ghana: Naana Agyemang-Mensah, PhD

Dr. Naana Agyemang-Mensah joined The Hunger Project (THP) as Country Director in Ghana in January 2000.

Under her leadership, THP-Ghana has expanded its reach to more than 49 village clusters, impacting the lives of more than 300,000 villagers. These village clusters, called epicenter communities, work together over 7-8 years to become self-reliant in meeting their own basic needs on a sustainable basis.

Additionally, Dr. Agyemang-Mensah created what is now called the Women’s Empowerment Program. This innovative program provides training for rural women in how to understand and protect their economic, political and reproductive rights. Upon completion, participants often become known as village lawyers and as such serve their entire community. The success of this program has led to its adoption in seven other African countries where THP works.

Prior to coming to THP-Ghana, Dr. Agyemang-Mensah worked with the Ghanaian National Council on Women and Development (NCWD). She has served as a consultant to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ghanaian Ministry of Finance. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the West Africa Sub-regional Agricultural Research Network of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture (REPA) and a member of Ghana's National Committee on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 

Dr. Agyemang-Mensah received her B.A. in English, Sociology and Education from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, her M.A. in Agency (Mental health) Counseling from Michigan State University and her Ph.D. in Adult/Non-formal Education with a minor in Community Development/Women in Development from Michigan State University.

She received the Thomas Fellowship for Hunger and Famine Prevention at the Michigan State University in 1985. Her Dissertation research was on the nature and extent of rural women's participation in food processing activities in Ghana.