Improve livelihoods of Women Farmers for Poverty Reduction - Minister

Accra, Oct. 15, GNA - Mr. Yaw Effah-Baafi, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in-charge of Crops, on Thursday said improvement in the livelihood of women farmers was paramount to the economic development and poverty reduction in the country.

He said in spite of the numerous economic challenges, women farmers had established many systems of mutual support including self-help groups, co-operatives and micro-credit schemes.

Mr. Effah-Baafi was speaking during this year's celebration of World Rural Women's Day which falls on October 15, every year.

This year's celebration which was on the theme, "Rural Women at the Heart of Innovation," was organized by Farmers' Organisation Network in Ghana (FONG), a rural women's support group, and sponsored by International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), Agriterra, a agricultural sector focused company, and Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana), a pan-African, non-governmental and non-profit organization.

He noted that women farmers repaid loans disbursed to them frequently than their male counterparts.

"We need to congratulate them for continually feeding and developing this nation even in the face of challenges they face from childhood.

"We all know that the rural woman, unlike the urban woman, continues to play a multi-faceted role besides having to be a mother and a wife. In the field of agriculture and especially marketing, processing and storage, the rural farmer has always dominated, bringing to the fore their creativity and implementing existing or new innovations even when the man is averse."

He said government was in the process of establishing the Agricultural Development and Investment Fund (ADIF) which would serve as one of the major sources of funding for agriculture and its related businesses.

"Agriculture is the mainstay of our economy because it gives employment to over 60 per cent of the economically active labour force and provides about 40 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) not forgetting the fact that it generates at least 50 per cent of the foreign exchange earnings."

Mr Effah-Baafi said despite these attributes, the full potential of the agricultural sector had not been properly harnessed and exploited for the stimulation of the economy.

He expressed the hope that women farmers would constitute the major target beneficiaries of ADIF since they formed about 60 per cent of all farmers in the country.

Mr. Effah-Baafi appealed to the leadership and members of FONG to strive towards the attainment of a harmonious relationship and coordination of their activities in order to empower the rural woman to make a greater impact in society.

An address read on behalf of Nii Armah Tackie, Municipal Chief Executive Ga West, by Mr. Phillip Newman, an official of the assembly, said a women's desk to address gender related problems had been established at the assembly.

He urged rural women farmers to ensure that the girl child of was well educated.

Miss Sylvana Ntaryamira, a Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), advised that rural women should be provided with an enabling environment that would afford them the use of new knowledge for generating goods and services, influencing business enterprises and taking an active role in the decision making process in society.

Mrs. Lydia Sasu, National Women's Organizer of FONG, called for the formulation of training programmes for rural women and farmers to enable them to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change.

She urged state and donor agencies to institutionalize gender planning and budgeting programmes that would sustain gender initiatives.

"National policies for science, technology and innovation have to be gender sensitive and should consider informal norms and practices such as entrepreneurial spirit, reciprocity and mutual trust in sharing information and transferring knowledge", Mrs Sasu said.

Ms. Bernice Sam, National Programme Coordinator of WiLDAF Ghana, urged rural women to hold political leaders accountable for the promises they make and what they are supposed to do.

Some members of FONA mounted an exhibition of foodstuffs and other local produce as part of activities marking the celebration.

GNA