Gender and Communications Officer at SWIDA Ghana Kadijah Abdul-Samed has underlined the participation of more women in Agriculture as key to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Miss Kadijah at an SDG Summit on the campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Tamale says the government and other relevant stakeholders need to invest in that regard to harness women’s potential for higher productivity, returns and the sustainability of their farming businesses.
”i think women need to be empowered in all areas to address the poverty situation in Africa and Ghana. Most of people are discriminating lot of women and look down upon them because of their gender. Women empowerment must take control and support us as women to gain that confidence and respect again. And it must help us to stand strong and fights for our rights”, she opined.
Miss Kadijah says empowering women in the sector could in turn yield outcomes such as food security, good nutrition, enhanced family livelihoods as well as community development. Women comprise of over 50 percent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries, including Ghana.
Yet despite their prevalence in the agricultural workforce, Ghanaian rural women are marginalised; they have less access than men to agricultural productive resources such as land and water resources, production inputs, financial credit, markets, and technology.
Miss Kadijah wants government to prioritize the training of women especially, in the adoption of modern agricultural techniques that are tailored in local conditions. She said such training sessions should be backed by the provision of extension services, storage facilities, dual infrastructure and communication technologies, access to markets and credits and support in the building of stronger organisations and farmer cooperatives.
She further advised women to venture into the sector. Sustainable Development Goal 1 aims to end poverty in all its forms, everywhere.
”We as women, we need to have belief in ourselves that we can do it and we will do it. We need to get over the guilt of putting ourselves first , and focus on what we want to achieve. And also change the way our thoughts run and believe in ourselves”
The Summit organized by NUGS, was attended by various Senior High Schools in the Tamale Metropolis as well as students from other tertiary institutions in the region.
Source: zaanews.com/Lilian D. Walter
