NGO appeals for women involvement in agricultural policies formulation

Madam Gladys Adusah, the Project Coordinator of Farmers’ Organization Network in Ghana (FONG), on Thursday appealed to government to involve women farmers in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policies in the country.

This, she said, was because women formed the largest group of farmers and therefore played important role in the country’s farming industry, but “we have not been given the necessary recognition over the years”.

The FONG Project Coordinator alleged they had been sidelined in decision-making processes about their concerns and challenges.

Mad. Adusah made the appeal when she was speaking at the opening of a three-day training of trainers programme at Techiman in the Bono East Region.

The programme was participated by female farmers and traders in the Region and aimed at building their capacities to enable them to effectively present their issues both at the local and the national levels.

In addition they were taught advocacy and conflict management skills to effectively and confidently resolve conflicts amicably for the Network to attain its goals.

Under the theme “Advocacy to Increase Rural Women Participation in Decision- Making and Policies Implementation in the Bono East Region”, the training was jointly organised by the FONG and a German Association of Rural Women, an international non-governmental organisation, working to promote the interest of rural women.

Mad. Adusah appealed to government to assist women farmers with farm imputes to enhance their farming activities to augment government’s effort to increase food production in the country.

She mentioned numerous challenges faced by rural women farmers and cited particularly marketing of their produce as major challenge that needed government’s assistance for them to make the expected economic returns.

Later in a forum, some of the participants suggested the need for the Techiman Municipal Assembly to provide urinal and toilet facilities at market places in the Municipality to improve on sanitation conditions in such areas.