By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), April 25, GNA – The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) intervention has spurred the transformation of the shea industry in northern Ghana through business skills training and coaching for shea enterprises to promote decent work and enhance productivity.
The global multi-country programme, “Productivity Ecosystems for Decent Work (PE4DW)”, employed multiple approaches that strengthened drivers of business productivity across policy, sector and enterprise levels to promote productivity and decent work.
The governments of Switzerland and Norway, through the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), respectively, funded the programme implemented in Ghana, South Africa and Vietnam.
A total of 16 shea enterprises, 15 in the Upper West Region and one in the Savanna Region, received training and coaching under the programme, using the Sustaining Competitive and Responsible (SCORE) training model.
The training included coaching to develop and implement enterprise improvement plans over a five-month period.
All 16 beneficiary enterprises, including the Sungtaa Tietaa Company and Yipaala Shea Association, were also awarded certificates after the training.
The project also facilitated the establishment of the Ghana Shea Workers Union (GSWU) under the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Ghana Shea Employers Association (GSEA) to support the industry’s growth.
Speaking at the project’s result-sharing event in Wa, Mr Emmanuel Wullingdool, the PE4DW National Project Officer at ILO, who represented Mr David Marcos, the Project Manager, said there was a correlation between a decent work environment and increased productivity.
He stated that the two variables worked together to improve the workers’ lives while ensuring that the enterprises remained profitable and sustainable.
“When the workers are productive and they work hard, it means they earn higher wages and higher salaries, and by so doing, it motivates them to work harder.
“When the workplace is decent, it makes the workers also happy, they are willing to give their best”, Mr Wullingdool explained.
Ms Rita Damson, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ritadamson Ventures in Tamale, who represented the GSEA, expressed hope about the potential impact of the project on the shea sector in Ghana.
She said the training had enabled the enterprises to improve their work environment and employ strategies that motivated the workers to increase productivity.
She, however, stressed the need for policies to restrict the export of sheanuts as that was “killing” the industry in Ghana and depriving many people, especially women, of decent work and livelihoods.
Mr Godwin Fuoh Bibariwiah, the Upper West Regional Labour Officer, called for a conducive and productive workspace that enhanced the employees’ livelihoods and ensured social protection, social dialogue and decent working conditions.
Ms Felicia Kraja, the Northern Regional Secretary of the TUC, said despite the significant contribution of the shea industry to employment and export, it was faced with many challenges.
They included the lack of a unified voice of workers and the lack of dedicated policies to address the concerns of workers in that industry.
She, therefore, said the GSWU would empower the workers with the bargaining power to advocate and lobby for better working conditions and policies for the sector.
GNA
CAE/CA