The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson, has paid a visit to women farmers and disabled women in Northern Ghana as part of a visit to beneficiaries of the UK government-sponsored Root of Change Project.

The project which is meant to economically empower women in rural Ghana especially those engaged in farming to access financial services to enhance their livelihoods through farming and others.

More than 12,000 women have benefited from the project for the past three years.

Her Excellency Thompson's visit was to observe and understand the unique approach used by the implementing institutions in achieving the project's objective which was empowerment and financial inclusion of the women.

It was also to understand and share in the learning experience from the implementing institutions in working with rural women to break down barriers to financial inclusion and women economic empowerment

The commission interacted with staff and some of the beneficiaries of the project to gather feedback about the project’s interventions in their households and communities and understand their challenges and support they need.

"I am glad to meet people like these rural women farmers to see the impact of the British government support", she said.

She used the opportunity to ask how the project has helped the women.

The beneficiary women explained that they can now confidently hold family discussions with their spouses, support their children in school specially their girls , buy clothes for themselves and children.

According them, they have also grown their farm sizes which generate more income for them after support from the project.

Root of Change Project
More than twelve thousand rural women farmers and persons with disability who are low-income earners have benefitted from the empowerment support scheme.

Dubbed, ‘Roots of Change’, the three-year project was implemented by Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans ( one of the implementing partners ) in Ghana and Democratic Republic of Congo.

The UK Government funded the project through Opportunity International UK at the cost of 3.6 million pounds for the three years, in both countries.

The support, including training in good agriculture practices, has resulted in increased yields and income for the beneficiary women.

Project Outcome
By August 2021, the project targets have been repeatedly exceeded – more than 15,000 women have been trained and over 12,000 rural women had opened savings accounts.

It is estimated that 40,000 additional jobs have been created as a result of the UK government-sponsored programme.

This immense success can be largely attributed to the programme’s implementing partners who adapted their strategies to overcome the challenges presented by the global pandemic.

The training was a cornerstone of the Roots and Change programme.