Sustainable Livelihood Adaptation Project

A new project aimed at introducing women farmers to improved Integrated Groundnuts Oil Extraction Technologies has been launched in the Builsa South of the Upper East Region.

The six month project dubbed “Sustainable Livelihood Adaption (SLA) Project” is being implemented by LINK Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) operating in Northern Ghana with funding support from the Adaptation Fund Project (AFP) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Launching the Project at Fumbisi on Thursday, the Northern Regional Manager of LINK Ghana , Mr Daniel A Kansake, explained that the project is mainly aimed at improving sustainable livelihoods adaptation for women through the introduction of improved integrated Groundnuts Oil Extraction Technologies.

“It is also to help improve the efficiency of groundnut oil extraction technologies among women to help Improve their incomes ”, the Regional Manager stressed.

He said apart from the project launch which formed part of the project implementation , the project would also conduct improved quality groundnut oil extraction and packaging training for the project beneficiaries , facilitate the registration of groundnut oil extraction groups with the Business Advisory Services (BAS) and Cooperatives as Business Enterprises.

The project , he indicated, had among its components to construct functional community oil extraction centres in the beneficiary communities with ground nut grounding machines , roasters and threshers , facilitate value chain linkages among oil extractors in the areas of marketing and financial institutions as well as carry out gender baseline analysis.

He mentioned that the project which would be implemented in three communities, namely Gbedema Kunkua, Kasiesa and Gbedembilisi , targeting 2500 women beneficiaries with 50 lead women to be trained on the new technologies as agents of technology transfers in the District, may be up-scaled in the subsequent years to reach other communities.

He explained that what informed the decision of LINK Ghana to support the women groups in the District is that despite the critical role women played in the groundnut oil sector, many of them had limited production technologies, knowledge and skills in producing quality and quantum of oil in a more efficient manner.

“The enterprise does not only contribute to food security, the improvement of households incomes, but also provides a locus of job opportunities for a chain of actors including farmers, transporters, processors, and service providers”, he indicated.

The Political Head of the District, Mr. Daniel Gariba, lauded the effort of the NGO and the UNDP for selecting the area to implement the project and indicated that it falls in line within the government’s policy of one District, One Factory.

The Chief of Gbedembilisi, Nab Atirekpere Ignatius 111, mentioned that the Builsa South District was very much endowed with agriculture potentials such as groundnuts, rice , corn among others but was confronted with the challenges of value added addition and marketing.

He expressed optimism that with the effective implementation of the project, it would help address some of these challenges and called on other development partners to help the District exploit more of its natural resources for the development of the area.