Tamanaa, 2SCALE award women rice farmers on IWD

Fourteen women rice out-growers in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region have been awarded by being given recognition and appreciation for their outstanding contributions to rice production in the area.

The awards categories included best rice parboiler, highest rice processor, most committed processor, young processor and highest sales girl.

The winners were given assorted fabrics for their prizes.

The Awards formed part of activities to celebrate the women on this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD), an annual global celebration marked on March 08, to amongst others recognize the contributions of women to society.

It was organised by Tamanaa Company Limited, a rice processing company, as part of the “Towards Sustainable Cluster in Agri-Business through Learning in Entrepreneurship-Phase II (2SCALE) project, which began in 2019 with funding support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The project amongst others seeks to improve access to nutritious food, improve livelihoods for smallholders, develop inclusive businesses with small and medium enterprises and scale public-private partnerships.

Tamanaa Company Ltd, located at Nasia in the West Mamprusi Municipality, began operations in 2015 and works with about 4,000 out-growers, 40 per cent of them being women and located in four Assemblies, namely West Mamprusi, Savelugu, and East Mamprusi Municipalities and Mamprugu-Moaduri Districts.

Mr Braimah Saibu, Chief Executive Officer of Tamanaa Company Ltd at the awards ceremony at Nasia on Sunday, said “These women have demonstrated through their lives and hard work, that, women are capable, they are self-sustaining, and they can make a difference”.

Mr Saibu said the women were poised to create value for themselves and gave assurance to continuing to work and better the lot of women in the area, and called for support for the company to achieve its objectives.

Mr Solomon Boar, North East Regional Minister, pledged government’s support for Tamanaa Company Ltd to continue its operations to support the women to improve production and create livelihoods for the people of the area.

Dr Sagre Bambangi, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in-charge of Annual Crops, lauded women’s contribution to agriculture and expressed gratitude to stakeholders for the initiative to appreciate the women in the area, which would spur them for more good work.

Dr Bambangi, who is also Member of Parliament for Walewale, commended Tamanaa Company Ltd for its initiatives, and said it complemented government’s agricultural programmes to create jobs for the people, and assured management of the company of government’s preparedness to address its concerns.

Mr Jalil Zakaria, Country Lead for 2SCALE, called for support for Tamanaa Company Ltd to increase production, ensure quality and secure more market for its products for the benefit of all.

Madam Barichiso Issahaku, who was adjudged best rice parboiler, said rice processing had empowered her to take good care of her family, advising women in the area to join the industry to earn incomes.