As part of the 8th Women in Food and Agriculture Leadership Training Forum and Gold in the Soil Awards (WOFAGRIC), held in Damongo in the Savannah Region, Exim Bank Ghana conducted a focused financial training designed to help women farmers strengthen their businesses and improve their access to finance.
The training, held under the theme “Building Financial Resilience: Expanding Access to Credit and Investment for Women Farmers,” provided an important platform for women in agriculture to better understand how financial institutions assess businesses and what farmers can do to position themselves to access credit and investment opportunities.
For many women farmers, the challenge is not a lack of ideas or commitment. It is often the difficulty of turning their agricultural activities into structured, bankable businesses that can attract the financing needed to expand production, purchase equipment, improve processing or access larger markets.
The Exim Bank session therefore focused attention on the importance of financial preparedness and resilience as women seek to grow their agricultural enterprises.
Participants were encouraged to view their farms and agribusinesses not simply as sources of livelihood, but as businesses with the potential to generate income, create jobs and contribute to local economic development.
The training also created an opportunity for women farmers to understand the broader relationship between access to finance and agricultural growth. With appropriate financing, farmers can invest in improved inputs, machinery, irrigation, storage, processing, packaging and transportation, allowing them to move beyond primary production and participate more meaningfully in the agricultural value chain.
For women in particular, access to affordable and appropriate financing can be transformative. It can enable them to expand their farms, strengthen processing businesses, employ other women and young people, and build enterprises that remain sustainable beyond individual farming seasons.
The engagement with Exim Bank also reinforced the importance of farmers understanding the products and requirements of financial institutions. Rather than approaching financing as an emergency solution, women farmers were encouraged to develop the financial discipline and business structures that can make them more prepared for investment opportunities.
The session formed part of the broader objective of WOFAGRIC to empower women with practical knowledge, networks and opportunities that can strengthen their participation in Ghana’s food and agricultural systems.
From farmers cultivating maize, rice, groundnuts and soybeans to women involved in poultry, shea processing, agricultural inputs and value addition, the 2026 Gold in the Soil Awards demonstrated the diversity and entrepreneurial potential of women in agriculture.
As WOFAGRIC continues to create platforms for learning, networking and recognition, the partnership with financial institutions such as Exim Bank remains important in addressing one of the persistent barriers facing women farmers: access to appropriate finance.
For the women who participated, the session provided another important step towards transforming their agricultural activities into stronger businesses capable of attracting investment, creating opportunities and contributing to the future of Ghana’s food and agricultural sector.
