By Stanley Senya
Accra, March 21, GNA – Mrs Yaa Amekudzi, the Country Director for Cocoa Life Ghana, has urged women in cocoa farming to embrace new technologies to improve production and enhance the quality of their crops.
She said if women used technologies such as pruning saws, cocoa harvesting knives, wheelbarrows, and steel loppers, it would help them save time with less stress in their activities.
She made the call on Tuesday at the commemoration of the 2023 International Women’s Day celebration in Accra, on the theme: “Strengthening Innovation for Promoting Gender Equality in the Cocoa Life Programme,” as part of promoting gender equality in the cocoa sector.
Mrs Amekudzi said there would be a programme to teach women how to use fertilizers, turn soils and manage weather conditions.
“By encouraging the use of new technologies, which enhance quality and healthy cocoa pods, I’m not saying we should throw away the old ways of farming, but rather merge the new and traditional methods to improve yield,” she said, and that farmers were being monitored at the various communities to ensure the usage of new technologies.
Dr Rose Mensah Kutin, the Director of ABANTU for Development, a Civil Society Organisation, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said one major challenge in the cocoa industry was the hidden role of women in the sector.
It is assumed that cocoa is cash crop production, therefore, the field is dominated by men.
However, through research and engagement with women in the communities, it was identified that women were productive in the sector, and there were specific areas they predominated when it came to cultivating the cocoa beans.
Women play a major role in terms of carrying the cocoa pods and working with their male counterparts to break the pods.
“We must forget the idea that cocoa production is mainly a male activity. Women are actively involved, women are being very productive, and women are enhancing their wellbeing and that of their families,” Dr Kutin said.
“Women should be recognised as such, and valued in terms of the productive capacity they bring to the sector”.
She called for government’s support to create and implement policies to strengthen the activities of women in the sector.
Mrs Mariam Bafowaa Opoku, the Programmes Officer, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, said the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women was an action that enjoined the removal of barriers for equal participation.
The Ministry, she said, had several interventions in place to mainstream gender equality in the development process, one of which was through the development of the Five-Year National Gender Policy, currently being reviewed.
“The Ministry salutes all women around the world and applaud all men for supporting the cause of gender equality and women empowerment.”
This year’s International Women’s Day theme offers ABANTU and Cocoa Life the opportunity to broaden its engagement with key women leaders, including women presidents of farmer societies, as well as leaders of the Gender Dialogue Platforms from all the districts.
The Cocoa Life Programme has for the past 10 years employed a holistic approach in empowering cocoa communities. Key among them was the implementation of the Women Empowerment Strategy, implemented by ABANTU for Development.
The implementation of this strategy has resulted in various successes, especially within the areas of women’s leadership, women’s economic empowerment and enhanced voice.
GNA