Agricultural advocacy NGO, Agrihouse Foundation in collaboration with the Queen Mothers Foundation has launched the 2024 edition of its programme dubbed, Gathering of The Royals at the Accra Tourism Information Centre.

The event, which is slated for February 29, will take place at the GNAT Hall in Accra under the theme “Seeds of Change: Cultivating Gender Equality in Agriculture and Honoring Women’s Advancement.”

It promises to be a day packed with enlightening discussions and valuable networking opportunities.

This year’s programme that will focus on peace and food safety is expected to bring together enterprising queen mothers from various traditional councils across the country to discus possible ways of improving agriculture in various communities aimed at creating awareness among the youth in agriculture.

Speaking during the launch, the Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa said the programme seeks to create a forum for discussions aimed at influencing workable  agricultural policies in Ghana that will facilitate  growth within communities.

Emphasizing the significance of this year’s  gathering,  Alberta Akosa said it's a strategic platform for  influencing policy directions, forging stronger partnerships among female traditional leaders, and driving comprehensive growth in the agricultural sector.

She said the theme of the programme lays emphasis on achieving gender equality in agriculture, advocating for concerted efforts to empower women in agribusiness and afford them equal opportunities for growth and advancement.

Alberta Akosa noted that her foundation sent one of the queen mothers to America to familiarize herself with modern agric systems.

She disclosed that she will consult with her partners to possibly do an exchange in which queen mothers will have the opportunity to learn modern agricultural techniques.

On her part, Queen mother of Hlefi Traditional Area Mama Megbenga II, who doubles as a civic educator said through the Agrihouse Foundation programme, she been able to create extensive agricultural awareness in her community.

Mama Megbenga said every year, she goes around the communities to talk to school children and women to encourage them to take agriculture much more seriously, adding that it is not only white collar jobs that can give them what you need in future.

“You can also make good use of whatever is around and in case  you complete school and your parents cannot afford to sponsor your education to the tertiary level you can venture into agriculture" said Mama Megbenga ”

She disclosed that some young people in her traditional area engage in farming to raise funds to support their education.

 According to her, the skills acquired from the Gathering of The Royals helped her in educating her people on  agriculture.

"For my community, the land is there. Even me, in our family we have the land, and we encourage outsiders to come and we will give it to them to farm."

Mama Megbenga said in a bid to encourage more people to go into farming, they decided to lease to people to farm.

She's thus inviting investors to come to her area to take advantage to start commercial farming to create jobs for the youth.