Women in agribusiness conference ends in Ho

Women in agribusiness have been asked to come together and break the barriers that have all over the years impeded their potential and also to fight for empowerment through access to resources, technology and networking. 

The Volta Regional Chairman of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Dela Gadzanku, said this at the opening ceremony of the Women in agribusiness conference and exhibition at Ho last Monday.

The two-day conference attracted over 200 participants including representatives from Nigeria, Malawi, Uganda and Liberia, and it was organised by Guzakuza, a non-government organization, on the theme “Connecting Women: Connecting African Food Systems”.

Mr Gadzanku bemoaned the fact that although they could feed the country, women were hampered by barriers such as access to land, finance, gender biases and outmoded custom practices. 

Empowerment

For this reason, Mr Gadzanku said they needed to come together and demand empowerment, and be connected through resources, technology, knowledge and networking.

“A connected network of women in farming, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs is a formidable force capable of transforming challenges into opportunities,” he said. 

He noted that when the women come together, they can share ideas and knowledge and support each other’s growth to overcome the barriers that have been limiting them.

Mr Gadzanku called on financial institutions to introduce women-friendly interventions and remove barriers such as access to collateral that they do not have. He also called for the establishment of a desk for women in decision-making and processes.

“Women in leadership position can act as role models, inspiring future generations and fostering an environment where equality, innovation and sustainability can flourish,” he said. 

Policies

Admitting that some barriers had combined to hamper women in agribusiness over the years, the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa, said it was to overcome this challenge, that the government had introduced policies such as Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) and One District One Factory, to enhance production and add value.

He said these policies were only the beginning of government’s intervrntion, since there was the need to remove all the barriers that combined to hinder their progress.

He, therefore, called on the women in agribusiness to share knowledge to improve their lot.

The Lead of Guzakusa, Nana Adjoa Sifa, said the conference brought the women together to exchange ideas and views to build their resilience in the agribusiness they are engaged in. Ms Sifa said it was also to advance their aims and bring about a defined system, leading to an improvement in their efforts to produce more to feed the country. 

Ms Sifa regretted that although currently women are in the agriculture industry they possess less than 20 per cent of the land for development.

This and other systemic barriers such as gender biases and outmoded practices has always prevented them from realising their full potential in agribusiness, she said.