OXFAM in Ghana, together with its implementing partners, Shea
Network Ghana, SEND GHANA and Norsaac under the Women Economic Advancement for
Collective Transformation (WEACT) project, has celebrated women in agriculture.
It formed part of International Rural Women’s Day at Kpulgine in the Mion District of the Northern
Region.
The project partners marked the Day on the theme: “Rural women, cultivating food for all, key for a world free from hunger and poverty”.
Ms Ubaidatu Iddrisu, Project Manager of Shea Network Ghana, speaking during the event, said
rural women had so far played signicant roles in the country’s agricultural sector to sustain the
nation’s food security.
She said most of the rural women did not only play critical roles in the agricultural workforce,
but also generated income for their families and communities through entrepreneurship
agribusiness, food processing and rural tourism.
She said rural women also played key roles in investing in their children’s education, healthcare,
and other essential services for their families.
Ms Iddrisu indicated that so far, the rural women’s economic empowerment project had served
as a catalyst for sustainable development, poverty reduction and the realisation of the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
She called on stakeholders to support government to address challenges confronting women
such as limited access to land, as well as create an enabling environment for empowering rural
women to unlock their full potential.
Madam Theresa Baveng, WEACT Project Coordinator, urged all stakeholders, especially
traditional and religious leaders to support women and girls to achieve their full economic
potential by removing and reducing socio-cultural norms, which affected their progress.
She thanked the Chiefs for allocating land at Salankpang and Kpulgine for women for the
farming purposes.
She highlighted on the WEACT Project and said it was funded by Global Affairs Canada with
the aim to enhance women’s economic empowerment, well-being and inclusive economic growth
in the shea and cocoa value chains.
Mrs Indrani Barron, Programme O cer, Oxfam Quebec, who is on a project visit to the
country, said she was happy to be part of the celebration.
She congratulated the women for their hard work in contributing signi cantly to working to end
hunger in families and Ghana as a whole.
She entreated rural women to keep up the demanding work to enhance the country’s food
security and social independence in their homes and communities.
Source: GNA/Comfort Sena Fetrie-Akagbor