A total of 105 women household farmers from seven communities in three districts in the Upper West Region have benefited from “Target 100 Skill Training and Livestock Rearing for 100 women Rural Farmers Project” of the Coalition for Change (C4C).

The 105 women living in households with 580 members had an average of six members are from Sakai, Wellembelle, Nabulo, Tarsaw, Nabugubelle, Olli and Kongor in the Sissala East, Lambussie-Karni and Wa West Districts.

The project, which is funded by the Australian High Commission in Ghana through its Direct Aid Program (DAP), provides financial support to civil society groups to pursue small-scale development projects and provide humanitarian assistance, in line with Australia's international relations and public diplomacy objectives.

The Target 100 project is geared towards empowering parents, especially women who are dominantly farmers and aims to create rural opportunities geared towards increasing income based on the needs of women farmers groups to improve and support their families and children in school through sustainable agriculture and income generating activities.

Madam Rubelyn Yap, Executive Director of C4C, told the Ghana News Agency during a tour of the communities that 30 women farmers and their 204 household members in the Sissala East District were supported to produce maize and soya beans.

She said the two crops were chosen based on their high demand within Ghana, especially maize which is used for preparing tuozaafi (tz), banku, kenkey, akpele, and porridge, had become the staple of most households in the district and the region.

The demand of the crop within and outside the region is high especially in the lean season whilst the soya bean is an “upcoming” crop in the region, which has potential in supplementing the nutritional and economic well-being of women and their households, she pointed out.

Madam Yap said the project also provided soap making training for 43 women farmers within the households of 209 members at Olli in Wa West District whilst 32 women farmers with 167 household members also benefitted from the same training in Kongor, Lambussie-Karni District.

The C4C Director said about 172 and 167 balls of soaps were produced during the training in Olli and Knongor, while training materials and supplies were provided to the women for their start-up production.

She said the cardinal objective of the project is to ensure the transfer of technologies; farming techniques and soap making procedures to the beneficiaries, using a participatory and demonstrative approach; increased the acreage of land of the women beneficiaries; and the introduction of new crops such as soya beans to the beneficiaries.

Madam Yap expressed gratitude to the Australian High Commission for the partnership to help the needy in Region noted to be the poorest in Ghana.

The DAP funding had been key to achieving C4C’s five year project, the Millennium Underprivileged Low-income-households Targeted Interventions (MULTI) Project, which seeks to closing the gender gap in agriculture and economic empowerment of women,” C4C Director said.

The C4C is a non-governmental organization, which aims to empower communities through capacity building of community members to include but not limited to parent teachers associations and school management committees, women farmers and women farmer based organizations and the youth.

The Wa based C4C champions quality basic education, promotion of gender equality and social inclusiveness, women empowerment, secure livelihood, youth development, nutrition and health in Ghana.