Commercial rice farming at Nakori in the Wa Municipality is under threat. This is because farmers say they are unable to among other things, access mechanization services and credit on time to support their activities.
They shared their frustrations with the media at a community gathering and sensitization on Gender Responsive Budgeting.
Nakori is a farming community in the Wa Municipality.
They are known for producing crops rice, groundnuts and maize in commercial quantities.
They also produce other cereals like sorghum and millet.
In Nakori, women actively participate in farming and have formed groups known as Village Savings and Loans, (VSLAs) to help themselves with issues of funding and agricultural advice.
The farmers, mostly women said there are unable to prepare their lands on time because they are unable to access tractor services.
They added that although they benefit from government’s flagship agricultural program, the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), they are only able to get seeds, often, they are unable to get fertilizers.
The women said part of the challenge in getting the fertilizers was the means of transport.
They say they have to visit Wa, and then transport the fertilizers several kilometers to their farms; an additional cost which some are unable to bear.
The lack of proper pricing regulation is another challenge the women face.
To encourage the women who have formed small cooperatives expand their farms and produce more, they appealed to government to allocate at least one tractor to the women groups to serve their needs as they are unable to compete with the men.
The women in Nakori added that access to rice milling machines and de-stoners along with well-established drying platforms would boost rice production in the area.
The women also appealed for a fertilizer distributer in Nakori to reduce to cost of transportation.
For her part, the Head of the Women in Agriculture Development (WIAD), Barikisu Jangu encouraged the women to form larger groups as that increases their bargaining power.
She also encouraged the women to reach out to her outfit with their issues timeously for assistance.
Madam Jangu added that steps are continuously being taken to address the peculiar challenges facing women and encourage other women to engage in agriculture as a means of economic independence.
The immediate past Assembly Member for the Nakori Electoral Area, Karim Abdul-Rahaman Topie said the challenges had on several occasions been communicated to him for help.
He said he in turn has had meetings with the Wa Municipal Agric. Department, to help the women address some of their challenges.
Mr. Topie said in the past planting season for example, he was able to arrange for a private business man to make tractor services available to some group of farmers.
A Policy Officer with the Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition (GTLC), Emmanuel Wullingdool said in a bid to assess the impact of the PFJ on the women a survey was conducted.
Mr. Wullingdool said what was realized was that a large number of farmers still used regular seeds as opposed to certified seeds under the program.
On fertilizers, he said, the farmers reported several cases of shortage; a situation that often affected their crops.
The Policy Officer said the distribution of inputs under the program did not favour women.
Mr. Wullingdool mentioned that in the implementation of the PFJ program, specific mentions were made of the youth and women to expand inclusiveness.
The PFJ was described as a program that would peak the interest of the two groups in agriculture however, Mr. Wullingdool described this as far from being the reality.
He said women and the youth remain the minority under the program; a situation that calls for immediate redress. In line with this, he called for deliberate targeting of youth and women groups under the program.
Story filed by Mark Smith
