By| Mabel Esinam Awagah & Angela Adu-Asomaning
SEND Ghana, a non-governmental organisation that seeks to promote good governance and gender parity among men and women, is advocating for equity in budgetary allocation and an annual action plan for both genders in cocoa—growing areas by various district assemblies.
The organisation that is also responsible for effective budgeting for equity through advocacy and livelihood intervention for poor, vulnerable and marginalised people in society made the call in a dialogue with stakeholders from the Gender Ministry, Ministry of Local Government, District Assemblies and farmers, in Accra.
The dialogue was to share and discuss the findings and recommendations of studies conducted in seven districts on how cocoa revenue invested in public services is gender-responsive.
A Senior Programs Officer of Send Ghana, Harriet Nuamah Agyemang said District Assemblies, State and Non-State institutions have the responsibility to provide the public with information to address the needs of people.
She reiterated that those services must address the basic and strategic needs of men, women, girls, boys and People Living with Disabilities, PWDs.
“Services that we provide, should go beyond just solving the basic needs of the people. We think that the assembly should ensure that annual action plans and budgets are gender-responsive. Which means that there is the need to do a thorough work”, she emphasised.
During a panel discussion, stakeholders shared their views on the fact that even though women now dominate the cocoa production chain, they are not recognized. They suggested that education and training services provided by COCOBOD is so far proving to be responsive to the basic and strategic needs of men and women in cocoa farming, and must be sustained and replicated in education and health projects funded by the COCOBOD.
They said, to avoid omission and duplication of efforts, the sustainability plans of Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) should have gender-responsive analysis components and should be in tandem with annual plans of the district assemblies.
The stakeholders further acknowledged the impact of education, training and cooperative building in the agriculture sector as a means to enhance women’s access to financial services, land, and leadership positions.