By Comfort Sena Fetrie/Jerry Azanduna, GNA,
Tamale, Dec. 4, GNA – Hajia Alima Sagito Saeed, the Chief Executive Officer of Savanna Women Integrated Development Agency has urged Chiefs and other traditional leaders to expand women’s access to land for farming to ensure food security in the country.
She said women farmers, especially those in rural areas across the country had less access to land, and farm inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and finance than their counterpart men and indicated that the practice negatively affected their ability to be productive in the trade.
Hajia Saeed said this during a media soiree organised to inform media practitioners in the northern region, the Upper East and Upper West regions on issues of promoting women farmers in rural areas.
The event held in Tamale, and organised by the Ghana Federation of Forest and Farm Producers (GhaFFaP) was to address some of the challenges confronting women farmers in rural areas.
According to her, women contributed about 80 percent of the labour required in the agricultural sector, and insisted that following their profound contributions to the sector, they should be acknowledged for their role to encourage them do more.
Hajia Saeed observed that equal access to resources even though may balance the gender equilibrium, it may not guarantee equal returns for women farmers, especially in northern Ghana, and therefore advocated affirmative action to grant women wavering access to land and other landed property to boost their confidence.
She called on Microfinance institutions and other financial service providers operating in rural areas to play key positive roles by supporting women to benefit from land title projects to bridge the productivity gap between men and women.
Madam Ramatu Abdulai, a Farmer from Atimberi, in the Bolga East District, stated that women who ventured into agriculture should be linked to value chains from production to processing and marketing and said it would help make farming more attractive, productive and commercially viable.
Madam Rose Saaka, a Farmer from Gwolu, in the Upper West Region said there was the need to improve on rural women’s knowledge on farming techniques by using the agricultural extension and training services.
Mr Philip Ayamba, the Coordinator of GHaFFaP called on the stakeholders in the agriculture sector to produce knowledge, data and tools that would promote gender equality in food sector projects.
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