The Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, Alberta Nana Aykaa Akosa has noted that gradually, Ghanaians are recognizing the importance of getting involved in agriculture, whether on a small or large scale.
She said at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic last year, a lot of people recognized the need to grow food, as part of ensuring food security and even complementing their incomes, since many people lost their jobs and had their salaries slashed.
These developments, she noted, is helping to attract many young people to the sector and gradually making the country’s agricultural sector more exciting.
She said more young Ghanaians are beginning to see and understand the prospects agriculture holds for personal, communal and national development. “They are beginning to appreciate that it more of a business, taking into consideration the vast value chain the sector offers,” she said in a radio interview in Bolgatanga, as part of promoting the 3rd WOFAGRIC and Gold in the Soil Awards Opining tomorrow, Wednesday, 23rd to Thursday, 24th June.
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Touching on the Gold in the Soil Award, which aim at celebrating women farmers thriving exceptionally in the agriculture sector, in spite of challenges, she said, this year, this year, the Awards Scheme received 131 nominations from both Upper East and Upper West Region.
Out of the 45 women shortlisted, 15 women will be recognized and awarded, in 15 categories, namely: Super Woman Farmer Award, She-Innovates Award, Climate-Smart Women Project Award, The Change Champion Award, Lady of The Region Export Award, Development Partner Award, Princess Carla Award, She-Operates Award, Outstanding Woman in Extension Services Award, Star Woman Agripreneur Award (Woman Agripreneur Award), Royal Agro Award, Diamond in the Rough Award, Feed to Food Awards – (Poultry, Livestock & Fisheries) and the ultimate, Gold in the Soil Award.
The rest of the agri-women will receive consolation prizes ranging from fertilizer knapsacks to irrigation materials and pumps.
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“We are very excited with the balanced women Farmers and Agribusiness value chain representation the nomination revealed. 50% of the entries received, are from women farmers, farming between 10-65 acres of maize, yam, groundnut, soya beans, vegetables, Bambara beans, millet and sorghum. 32% of the women are largely into Processing, Packaging and marketing of Shea, Neem, Moringa, Boabab, Dawada, groundnut, oils, etc. 15% are into distribution and marketing of Input (seeds, fertilizers, etc) and about 3% of these women are into Tractor and Equipment operating and hiring,” she highlighted.
The Foundation, she said, also noted that majority of the women farmers who submitted entries are between ages 25-65years, “This for us is a positive signal. It is great to know we have very young women in the Upper East and West Regions, who are taking Agric seriously and contributing to enhancing nutrition and changing livelihoods,” she revealed, adding that all the entries received are from women, who have been operating their businesses within a period of 2 to 40years.
Impacts of WOFAGRIC and Gold in the soil Awards
Since inception three years (3) ago, WOFAGRIC and Gold in the soil awards has impacted the lives and businesses of women in the agri-business space. So far 25% of women participants who were not into Agribusiness as at the time they attended the event, have now ventured into agribusiness. Similarly, about 900 women who were groomed to take up leadership roles have had their capacity built up to push for growth and expansion at the grassroots.
In 2019, almost a quarter of the nominees for the Gold in the Soil Awards made entries into the National Best Farmers Award Scheme at district, regional and national levels with about 7 of them winning laurels at the district and regional levels whilst 2 of them picked up awards at the National awards.
The training offered on proper management and book keeping have proven impactful. A follow up evaluation carried out 3 months after each event reveals that, past participants have been able to access loan facilities to support their farms and businesses. Furthermore, information and guidance provided by the Netherlands embassy and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) equipped some of the women farmers on the standard procedures, best practices and how to go documentations to export their produce. This has helped about 13 women to start the process to go into exportation.
The two (2)-day event will unfold under two (2) main segments thus:
- Women in Food and Agricultural Leadership Training and Capacity Building Session:
This full day session will deploy different learning approaches including opinion sharing, focused group discussions, dialogues, panel discussions, mentoring and demonstrations, to Train and build capacity of women Farmers and Agribusinesses.
Resource persons from various institutions, will be training our women on various topics, right from Production, Management and Marketing
The full day session, aims at providing a platform to exchange best practices and share valuable lessons learnt in handling and scaling up the Women in Agribusiness sector.
- The Gold in the Soil Awards:
Day Two (2) of the event, is the Gold in the Soil Awards. The awards sessions aim at recognizing and rewarding outstanding women in Agriculture. A documentary on activities and impact of these women will be produced and broadcasted on various platforms, to inspire and motivate other women who want to venture into Agribusiness. The 131 entries received, has been shortlisted to 45.
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