In a bid to appreciate, support and encourage women in Ghana’s agriculture sector of, Agri–house foundation has officially launched the second edition of the Women in Food and Agricultural (WOFAGRIC) leadership forum and the Gold in the Soil Awards.
The launch which took place at the Absa clubhouse on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, was on the theme: “Transforming and Sustaining women in agriculture; the role of public, private and development partners”.
WOFAGRIC forms part of efforts to empower women, promote their works, expand their horizon, recognize and award their works as well as inspire other women to venture into agriculture and all its related lucrative value chain.
It also provides a medium through which women in agriculture are supported in the areas of knowledge sharing, information dissemination, training, financial resourcing and technical resourcing.
The gold in the soil awards on the other hand is a women-focused awards that brings to the lime-light women working, thriving and excelling in the field of agriculture.
In her keynote address at the launch, former first lady and founder of the 31st Women’s Movement, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, recounted how she worked tirelessly in bringing women to the center of development in the regions of Ghana.
“For 38 years, I have worked diligently and persistently on developing women economically, socially, politically and culturally. Many sectors of our society still relegate women to the background, regarding them as second-rated citizens” the former first lady stated.
She noted that until women became an absolute part of national development, both in quality and quantity, Ghana would not become what it truly should be.
She used the platform to call on all sectors of the society especially in agriculture and its related projects, to believe in the leadership abilities and capabilities of women.
Marie-Claude Harvey, first secretary at the Canadian High Commission while delivering her keynote address acknowledged president Nana Akufo Addo’s Planting for Jobs policy.
According to her, “Canada since 2017 has provided direct funding to the Government of Ghana to implement the ‘Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana’ program which is strongly aligned with investing for Food and Jobs strategy.”
“We are now entering the fourth year of the program and we are seeing the significant results throughout the country”, she added.
On the subject of the role of the private, public and development partners in transforming and sustaining women in agriculture which talks about sustainable development goal 17 goes ahead to encourage all stakeholders to join forces to create synergies and achieve greater results.
She commended Agri-house for organizing WOFAGRIC and was hopeful that women who would attend will help their respective communities develop the skills and expertise to become high-performing farmers and agri-entrepreneurs.
A panel discussion was held during the launch on the theme which had Madam Gifty Rodor, president of Women in poultry, Mama Ayipe III, Queen mother and rice farmer in the Volta region, Madam Connie Nyador , Gold in the soil 2019 winner and best yam/cassava farmer, Madam Mabel Kudzo, 2017 2nd National best farmer, Madam Dorothy Effa, policy and advocacy officer of AGRA and Salma Liman, principal technical officer of COCOBOD discussing their success stories and challenges.
Highlighting on the Gold in the soil awards scheme, founder of Agri-house foundation, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa noted that the awards are open to women involved in agriculture from every district in Ghana. Entries could be made directly or by picking up a form from the offices of Agri-house foundation or by filling out an application form online via www.agrihousefoundation.com.
The awards will be a two-day event which has been slated for May 20-21, 2020.
By Sharon Willis Brown-Acquah