By Stanley Senya
Accra, Nov. 03, GNA – The Sustainable Aquaculture for Women Advancement (SAWA) Programme is targeting 60,000 young women for employment opportunities across Ghana’s aquaculture value chain by 2030.
The four-year initiative, supported by the Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Agri-Impact Limited, seeks to create dignified and fulfilling work opportunities for women aged between 18 and 35, including 3,000 persons with disabilities.
The programme will focus on Ghana’s tilapia and catfish value chains, covering fish production, processing, aggregation and marketing.
The consortium brings together private sector and strategic partners, including Newage Agric Solutions Ltd, AgroKings Limited, R&B Farms, Commercial Enterprise Limited (CEL), TechnoServe, Aglow Farms, Afrigem Global Investment Limited and Naple Betta, with PwC Ghana serving as the institutional strengthening partner.
The Fisheries Commission and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are also providing regulatory and technical support to the programme.
Speaking at the official partnership signing ceremony in Accra, Mr Daniel Fahene Acquaye, the Chief Executive Officer of Agri-Impact Limited, said the programme also aimed to increase domestic fish production by 50,000 metric tonnes and reduce the country’s fish import bill by US$90 million.
He said the initiative would bring together public institutions, development organisations and private sector businesses to address youth unemployment while strengthening Ghana’s capacity to produce fish locally.
Mr Acquaye said the programme would leverage existing private sector investments, infrastructure and expertise to expand businesses and create sustainable employment opportunities for young women.
He said the private sector partners would receive support to strengthen their operations, improve productivity and expand their businesses to create additional employment opportunities.
The programme would also facilitate research and technology transfer, improve access to affordable fish feed, provide business development services and strengthen regulatory support to create a more sustainable aquaculture industry.
Mrs Juliana Asante-Dartey, the Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer of Agri-Impact Limited, said beneficiaries would receive technical training, mentoring, business development support and resources to establish viable businesses across the aquaculture value chain.
She said the programme would focus on inland aquaculture using tanks and ponds to provide safer working environments for young women.
She said the partners had agreed to utilise their existing investments, infrastructure and technical expertise to support beneficiaries, while providing opportunities beyond fish production, including aggregation, processing and marketing.
Mrs Asante-Dartey called on the government to provide an enabling environment through infrastructure development, effective policy implementation and regulatory enforcement to attract private sector investment.
She also advocated special financing mechanisms to enable young people, particularly women with limited resources, to participate meaningfully in the sector.
She encouraged young women across the country to participate in the programme, saying previous aquaculture experience was not a requirement for admission.
She said the programme had already commenced, with some beneficiaries receiving training in fish production, hatchery operations, fish smoking and marketing.
The partners, speaking at the ceremony, said their commitments would include developing affordable fish feed, supporting the production of maize and soybeans for feed manufacturing, providing aquaculture infrastructure and technical assistance, and rehabilitating existing fish farms to restore livelihoods.
They said the interventions would also create different entry pathways for young women in urban and rural communities, including tank-based fish farming, commercial production and support services along the value chain.
They said efforts would be made to reduce fish production costs, improve the quality and affordability of locally produced fish and strengthen the capacity of young women to operate sustainable businesses.
One of the women engaged in aquaculture, Abigail, said the programme would provide more young women with opportunities to establish businesses, earn independent incomes and support their households.
She said women should be empowered to become financially independent rather than depend on their husbands or partners for their economic needs.
She encouraged young women, including school dropouts and unemployed graduates, to consider aquaculture as a viable business and employment opportunity.
The programme is to contribute to domestic fish production, reduce Ghana’s dependence on imported fish and expand women’s participation in the aquaculture industry.
GNA
Edited by Benjamin Mensah