Agrihouse Foundation, last week trained hundred women, including widows, single mothers and pregnant young girls, on the relevance of backyard garden, in enhancing their nutrition, contributing to employment and saving the environment.
The Training, which was carried out by some staff of Agrihouse and volunteers from the Agric Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, was further to advocate and trigger an interest in home gardening, as a means of supporting women within the Bamvim community, majority of whom are single mothers. The goal is to encourage them to sell some of the food crops they grow in their backyard gardens, and feed their families as well. The Training also offered alternative means of nutrition for babies of these single mothers who are unemployed.
Staff of Agrihouse Foundation and volunteers spent a full day, introducing and training the women on simple ways to start a backyard garden, preparing a seed bed, transplanting and managing a backyard garden.
To also assist the women to keep their environment friendly and also to support tidy up the environment, the Trainers from Agrihouse Foundation, undertook demonstrations with sachets, plastic bottles, gallons, which they said could adequately serve as nurseries for their seedlings.
Agrihouse Foundation also presented each of the women with Wellington Boots to help ensure their safety on their farms, since many of them have shared their experiences of snake bite and cuts from sharp objects.
In a brief address, Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, Ms. Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa Sarpong, said it was important to open the year with a training program that advocated for enhanced nutrition and financial independence because, this year, Agrihouse seeks to empower more women to become financially stable, while educating them on the need to feed their families nutritious home cooked meals.
She said, this year, Agrihouse is working with the theme, “Our Year of Working Smart to Strengthen our Impact on Farmers and Value Chain Actors,”
She therefore encouraged the women to make money from their trash by turning their sachets, plastic bottles, gallons, and car tires into nurseries, as they have been educated.
She expressed her gratitude to Agro Volta, M and B Seeds, and Agriseed, for supporting the training event with seeds and other planting tools.
