Bolgatanga: Women farmers in Northern Ghana have appealed to the government for an urgent review and implementation of the long-standing Agricultural Master Plan to facilitate agricultural-led transformation in the region. The call was made during the Northern Women Farmers Empowerment Forum held in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Region, on the theme: ‘Promoting Sustainable Agriculture for Improved Food Security and Poverty Eradication in Climate-impacted Northern Ghana: The Role of Policy Makers.’
According to Ghana News Agency, the forum was organised by the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA) with support from the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP). It was part of the ‘Increasing Renewable Energy Investments for the Empowerment of Women in Sustainable Agriculture and Lithium Mining in West Africa (IREEWAM, West Africa)’ project.
The forum provided a platform for the women farmers (Northern Savannah Women Enterprise), who are into farming and agro processing, to engage directly with experts in the agricultural sector, ask questions, and discuss practical solutions to the challenges being faced.
The women were taken through Government’s agricultural policies aimed at empowering women farmers, plans of the Northern Development Authority to support sustainable agriculture, the impacts of climate change on agriculture in Northern Ghana, sustainable agricultural practices and renewable energy solutions for climate adaptation and climate-smart agriculture for food security.
Ms Georgina Sabari and Ms Barikisu Sule, leaders of the women farmers, urged the government to expedite the implementation of the various agriculture-focused initiatives under the Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda (AETA) to enhance agriculture activities, especially for rural women. They mentioned the Feed Ghana Programme, Ghana Grains Development Project, Vegetable Development Project, ‘Nkoko Nkitinkiti’ poultry programme, and Feed the Industry Programme as critical policies that needed urgent action.
Additionally, they called for the scaling up of modern irrigation systems, including the Solar for Irrigation and Irrigation for Wealth Creation projects for year-round crop and livestock production. They also called for the establishment of Farmers’ Service Centres to serve as one-stop shops for affordable agricultural inputs, equipment, and new technologies, investment in agro-processing industries, particularly local beer brewing factories under the Rapid Industrialization Programme in Northern Ghana and the creation of a dedicated Women’s Development Bank to improve access to finance for rural women in agriculture.
Mr Bismark Adongo Ayorogo, Executive Director of NORPRA, emphasised the disproportionate impact of climate change on women farmers in the region which needed strong policies to support adaptation. He noted that despite Northern Ghana’s vast eight million hectares of arable land, the region continued to face food insecurity, poverty, and hunger due to climate-induced challenges such as droughts, floods, and extreme weather conditions.
‘Without the severe impacts of climate change, Northern Ghana would be the food basket of the country therefore urgent policy interventions are needed to reverse this trend,’ Mr. Ayorogo stated. Professor David Millar, President of Millar Open University, called for urgent action on climate change, including solutions to the perennial flooding and prolonged drought that had over the years destroyed food crops to ensure that farmers, particularly women, could mitigate the impact.