Rural Women Farmers in the Upper East Region of Ghana have identified a major challenge to their productivity, the lack of knowledge of government policies and interventions.
This revelation came to light during separate engagement fora held in Yakort, Nabdam District, as well as Yameriga and Tongo, Talensi District. These events were organized by the Maltaaba Peasant Women Farmers Cooperative under the STAR-Ghana Action for Voice Inclusive Development (AVID) project, with support from the Williams and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
The engagement fora brought together representatives from the Department of Food and Agriculture, Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, and the Ghana Education Service to interact with rural peasant women farmers and persons with disabilities, among others.
During the event, Mr Sulemana Mahama, the District Director of Agriculture for the Talensi District, took the opportunity to educate the rural peasant women farmers about various government agricultural interventions, such as Planting for Food and Jobs and Rearing for Food and Jobs.
He advised the women farmers to not solely rely on their husbands for accessing such services, as it would not benefit them much. Instead, he encouraged them to form groups and approach the Directorate for government interventions meant for smallholder farmers.
Furthermore, the District Director pledged support for the women farmer groups by providing tractor services, as per their demand at the engagement forum. He also assured them of other services, including free vaccination for their livestock.
In addressing climate change, he emphasized the importance of avoiding deforestation for charcoal burning and bush burning and pledged to support the farmers with energy cooking stoves.
Ms Lydia Miyella, the Executive Director of Maltaaba Peasant Women Farmers' Cooperative, highlighted that the objective of the project is to improve the incomes, households, food security, and livelihoods of women and persons with disabilities through sustained agriculture in the Talensi and Nabdam Districts.
She emphasized the existence of significant policy gaps that hinder access to government agricultural interventions, affecting the productivity and livelihoods of marginalized individuals.
She expressed optimism that the project would empower these vulnerable groups, who are major contributors to the agriculture sector, thus ensuring food security and improved livelihoods in rural households.
The engagement fora also provided an opportunity for representatives from the Ghana Education Service, as well as the Department of Community Development and Social Welfare, to educate the participants about other government policies they could access to enhance their livelihoods.
