By P. K. Yankey
Wassa-Adaase (W/R), Aug. 8, GNA – The Western-South Cocoa Region has launched the Daboase District Women Cocoa Farmers’ Cooperative to support more women to venture into cocoa farming for enhanced productivity.
Dubbed: “Women Rise, Cocoa Thrives-ADAASE 2024”, the cooperative was launched through the Women in Cocoa Farming programme, under the auspices of the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and Goshen Global Vision (GGV), a non-governmental Organisation (NGO), with funding support from Terradund for AFR100.
The Western-South Regional Manager of CHED, Mr Samuel Osei, in a speech read on his behalf during the launch, at Adaase in the Wassa-East District of the Western Region, charged the leaders of the cooperative to be dedicated, accountable and transparent to their members in the discharge of their mandates.
He encouraged the farmers to adopt a positive attitude towards cocoa farming to help adequately revamp the cocoa sector.
Executive Director of GGV, Madam Mary Perpetua Kwakwuyi, advised farmers to plant tree seedlings on their cocoa farms to enhance productivity.
She said as part of GGV’s alternative livelihood project and creating jobs for women in cocoa farming, it had initiated a Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) which, she added, was flourishing in three communities in the district.
The Wassa-East District Director of Agriculture, Madam Helena Addo, appealed to landowners to allocate more lands to women who were interested in cocoa farming.
The Extension Officer at the Hemanso Operational Area of COCOBOD, Mr Joseph Arlo, said there was the need for women cocoa farmers to be empowered, saying data from the 2021 population and housing census revealed that the numerical strength of women in the sector had increased.
Mr Arlo said: “Empowering women at an individual, household and community level will strengthen our impact because striking gaps in terms of challenges and differences exist between women and men in cocoa growing communities, as women own only two per cent of the farmlands thereby putting female cocoa farmers in the lower income bracket.”
Mr Arlo thanked GGV and financier, Terradund for AFR100 for the commitment towards women development, and said the district intended to increase women’s access to farm inputs, land ownership and membership in farmer organisations.
The District Cocoa Officer, Mr Andrews Agyemang, acknowledged the role women played in nation building, and said there was the need to support them to go into cocoa farming and form cooperatives for enhanced productivity.
Executive Director of YARA Ghana, an agro-chemical company, donated “Asasewura” fertilizer and GHC5,000 to support the cooperative farmers.
Head of Business at the Ahantaman Rural Bank PLC, Mr Rashid Abrobrah, used the occasion to open accounts for the women cooperative farmers and promised to assist them through savings and loans.
GNA