Government is set to receive about ¢2.5 million support for women in agribusiness from the Canada High Commission.

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ministry of Local Governance and Rural Development (MLGRD) have launched the pilot support to Women’s Farmer-Based Organizations (WFBOs) that are engaged in post-production agricultural operations in Ghana.

This support from the Global Affairs Canada’s (GAC) Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) programme aims to strengthen the capacities of the WFBOs to make their products more competitive and attractive for local and export markets.

According to the Canada High Commission, the support is in line with its Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), which seeks to empower women to eradicate poverty and build a more peaceful, more inclusive and more prosperous world.

Working with Ghana’s Women in Agriculture Development (WIAD) Directorate of MOFA as well as with decentralized departments of agriculture throughout the country, the support will foster women’s competitiveness in providing good quality value-added products to local and foreign customers.

The initiate will contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Ghana Government’s Investment for Food and Jobs (IFJ) objectives.

Activities to be supported include, purchasing and installation of agro-processing equipment, along with capacity building on operation and maintenance of the machinery, as well as coaching by TBI on marketing techniques to ensure appropriate market linkages.

Expectations

Expected results from this intervention include an improved ability of WFBOs to efficiently add value to their products and to reduce their post-harvest losses.

The pilot initiative is also expected to improve the incomes of WFBOs members as well as the economic status of their households.

The increased contributions of women to household incomes are, in turn, expected to provide increased opportunity for women to participate in decision-making at the household and community levels.

Pilot Program

The ¢2,500,000 allocated by the Global Affairs Canada for the pilot will support 48 competitively-selected WFBOs from the 16 regions of Ghana.

This Pilot Program launched on Friday to kick-start its implementation. In all, applications of 32 WFBOs from all the regions were approved for this pilot.

As part of the launch, MoFA signed an Agreement with GRATIS, an agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industries, to fabricate the machinery required by the beneficiary WFBOs, deliver and install them for use by the women groups.

Selection of the equipment was based on an on-site needs assessment conducted by GRATIS at the request of MoFA; and as part of the agreement, GRATIS will provide after-sales service.

MoFA also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with leaders of the three beneficiary WFBOs from Greater Accra Region.

Beneficiary WFBOs in the regions will also sign similar agreements with Regional Directors of Agriculture.