A display of the rice produced by the women
As part of measures to empower and improve the economic situation of women in rural areas, two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have given support to 300 women to improve rice production on their farms.
The support which came in the form of capacity building and training on new ways of rice processing is meant to reduce the content of stones in the rice they harvest, reduce the high tendency of broken rice and allow the rice retain most of its nutrients.
This came to light during a durbar at Akpafu Odomi to commemorate this year’s World Rural Women Day-2018. The day which is commemorated annually is meant to acknowledge the huge contributions that women in rural areas make to enhance the development of their communities all over the world.
The day also looks at ways to empower rural women to do more through various means of support to mitigate the many challenges they go through so that they can have a positive impact on their families and communities.
Development Action Association (DAA) with support from the German Association of Rural Women (GARW) decided to pick Akpafu Odomi to support 300 women rice farmers to commemorate the day.
The event which was on the theme: “Challenges and Opportunities in Rural Agriculture for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Rural Women in Key Decision Making,” commenced with a float at Hohoe, the municipal capital.
The women and others who joined carried placards bearing the inscriptions: ‘Rural farmers are nation builders’, ‘Women rice farmers are suffering’, ‘Rural women’s voices matter’, among others.
The National President of DAA, Grace Quaye, complained about how rural women in rice farming were not making enough profit despite the several hours they spent cultivating their rice. She said the lack of support for them was unacceptable, hence DAA’s initiative to give a helping hand. She added that her outfit was working with other NGO’s to support more of such women across the country.
A beneficiary of this support, Janet Adade, who is also the President of the Akpafu-based Madomise Women Farmers Association, lamented the adverse effects of poor land tenure system and other cultural practices on their rice business. She said lots of women could not acquire land to farm because the custom in the area required that a male acquired the land for a female.
Speaking on behalf of the 300 beneficiaries who were also members of her association, Janet thanked DAA and GARW for their support and hoped it would go a long way to improve rice production in the area.
She urged Ghanaians to patronize local rice because it was more nutritious and hoped that government and other organisations would help them acquire machines to reduce production cost, increase production from the current 2,000 tons annually, reduce the cost of the finished product while they maximize profit.
The Hohoe Municipal Agric Officer, George Asare, and Leonard Heh, both of whom represented the Municipal Chief Executive, Teddy Ofori, assured them of government’s support and urged them to take advantage of the many interventions through the Planting for Food and Jobs programme and fertilizer subsidies initiative.
From Fred Duodu, Akpafu (K.duodu@yahoo.com)