Women play a crucial role in Ghana’s agriculture sector, but they face numerous challenges when it comes to accessing finance, such as insufficient collateral for bank loans and unfamiliarity with bank products and services. Financial institutions also struggle to lend to the segments of the value chain where most women operate due to real and perceived risk, remote locations, and high transaction costs associated with small loan sizes.
According to the Senior Technical Advisor of the Feed the Future Ghana Mobilizing Finance in Agriculture(MFA) Activity, Amanda Grevey, Investing in women is critical for economic development and food security, because agricultural enterprises with greater women’s leadership and participation are more stable and less likely to default on their loans. There are significant opportunities for women in agribusiness across production, agro-processing, marketing, and distribution, and with the right support, knowledge, skills, technology, and investment, this potential can be realized.
The MFA Activity and their network of transaction advisors are helping agribusinesses strengthen their internal processes to become finance-ready and access loans. They have developed innovative financing products to expand access to loans for small value chain actors and women, with favourable lending terms and without traditional collateral requirements. Through their interventions, MFA and their partners have mobilized over $49.6 million in financing to 20,426 women-led agribusinesses, constituting over 61% of the 33,488 agribusinesses that have accessed financing through MFA .
The recent women in agribusiness summit by MFA , showcased the significant contribution of women in agriculture and presented 85 women-led agribusinesses primed for investment. The event also provided information on available resources for business development and investment in women-led agribusinesses, success stories, and best practices that can be replicated. There were Business-to-Business meetings allowing agribusinesses to connect with transaction advisors, financial institutions, and investors. The MFA welcomes partnerships aimed at improving the ability of small value chain actors and rural enterprises, including those led by women and youth, to increase their productivity and incomes.
SOURCE:AGRIWATCH REPORTER
