Smallholder farmers attend forum

Madam Esther Boateng, Programmes Manager of ActionAid Ghana on Tuesday said the organisation would continue to place women’s issues as one of its top most priorities as part of measures to reduce poverty.

She said Action Aid was more particular about what women did for a living and would therefore continue to offer the needed support especially for small-holder women farmers to improve their standards of living.

Madam Boateng said this at a day’s forum organised by ActionAid Ghana for female smallholder farmers as part of activities of the Women’s Rights to Sustainable Livelihoods Project and also to mark the International Women’s Day.

The forum was also to create a platform to discuss issues affecting female farmers in Northern Ghana and to strengthen on-going advocacy efforts to empower smallholder women farmers to jointly express their demands and needs that would lead to a stronger network.

Madam Boateng said ActionAid viewed women’s rights and gender equality issues as very paramount and that one of its objectives was to ensure that women and girls broke the cycle of poverty and stressed the importance of the Women Smallholder Farmers Project.

She appealed to government and other relevant institutions to play the lead role in promoting access to extension services by women smallholder farmers.

Madam Azumi Mesuna, Project Manager at ActionAid-Ghana said the purpose of the forum was also to share with women farmers and stakeholders, advocacy issues and to seek commitment in achieving set goals to break the cycle of poverty especially among women.

She said research findings had showed that women smallholder farmers were still resorting to the indigenous methods of farming, which was not improving their productivity.

She said many women were still engaged in unpaid care work and stressed that ActionAid-Ghana would strive harder to improve conditions of women especially those in farming by assisting them to access credit facilities to increase their production.