Agrihouse set to hold maiden edition of ‘Agri-Woman Farmers Market’ on March 12

As part of efforts this year to support Ghanaian women farmers and processors market their fresh produces and agri-products, Agrihouse Foundation is set to hold the first edition of, ‘Agrihouse Agri-Woman Market Place,’ a new and innovative interventional project.

Agrihouse Agri-Woman Market Place aims at helping Ghanaian woman farmer, processer, packager, marketer, IT service providers, among others, working within the agric value chain to market their services and products with convenience, both online and directly, in a cleaner, safer spaces.

The first edition of the Farmers Market is scheduled to come off on Friday, March 12, at the forecourts of the premises of Agrihouse Foundation, in Dzorwulu, Accra.

According to the Executive Director of the Agrihouse, Ms. Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, the Foundation also wants to use the essence of the project to highlight ‘International Women’s Day’ commemorated annually on March 8, to celebrate women’s achievements; raise awareness against bias and take action for equality.

The Foundation also seeks to use the event to highlight, ‘International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste,’ commemorated annually on September 29, to highlight the critical need to reduce food loss and wastage around the world.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), since 2014, the number of people affected by hunger has been rising steadily, emphasizing that, the issues of Post-harvest Loss is a major cause of hunger and starvation in around the globe.

“Food loss and wastage puts unnecessary pressure on the natural resource base and on the environment, depleting the natural resource base and generating greenhouse gases,” it states on its website.

Ms. Alberta Akyaa Akosa has therefore noted that Agrihouse Foundation will be leading the commemoration of this day in the country, come September, as part of efforts to support Ghanaian women farmers and also, highlighting the issue of post-harvest losses, which is a big challenge in the agricultural sector.

She said Ghanaians, importantly, all stakeholders in the country’s agricultural sector should also mark this date on their calendars, and use it as an opportunity to push forward and support events and projects that scale up the efforts of Ghanaian women farmers, as they face intensified agricultural challenges in these times of COVID-19.

In line with the up-coming Farmers Market on March 12, she said the event will take place at the forecourts of Agrihouse Foundation on Friday, from 9 am to 5pm, and is therefore calling on the Ghanaian general public to come support our women farmers; to purchase fresh food crops and agri-products, grown and processed by Ghanaian farmers and industries.

“Our overall goal is to support women farmers and agribusinesses to recover fully, gain some stability, increase their income, enhance nutrition of households and support the livelihoods of women farmers, by developing and providing them with a WOMEN-ONLY online and direct marketing platform, to sell and market their products and services at basically no cost,” she said.