AN INCLUSIVE STRATEGY FOR RURAL WOMEN FARMERS IN GHANA
The Problem
Achieving food security continues to be a challenge, particularly for many African
countries -including Ghana. The country has an underdeveloped agricultural sector, which is
characterized by over-reliance on rain-fed farming, low fertility soils, minimal use of external
farm inputs, environmental degradation, significant food crop loss both pre and post-harvest,
minimal value addition, and inadequate food storage and preservation that result in
significant commodity price fluctuation. The World Bank Development Report (2008) argued
that poverty reduction could be best achieved if agricultural growth is centered on
smallholder farmers, particularly women, who can be made more competitive and sustainable
through the introduction of technological innovations. The Ghanaian Food and Agricultural
Sector Development Policy (FASDEP) II which focuses on the value chain approach,
emphasizing value addition and market access, categorically states that gender inequality in
the agricultural sector has undermined the achievement of sustainable agricultural
development because programs and projects are not systematically formulated around the
different needs of women and men. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s (MOFA’s)
review report of the medium-term Agricultural Sector Investment Plan (METASIP) in 2015
also indicates that the approximate male to female coverage ratio of all projects mapped to
the METASIP was 2:1. Few of the projects had gender inclusiveness as part of the areas of
focus within the project objectives.
Women farmers in Ghana are on a daily basis confronted with challenges such as
unequal access to land, extension services, finance and credit, education and training,
technology, time and market. An FAO research report presented by its Agriculture
development Economics Division in March 2011 shows that women in rural areas reap fewer
benefits in agriculture than men and are less recognized compared to their male counterparts.
There is also an overall decline in agricultural investment including fertilizers, seeds and
technology adoption.
The Need
This calls for efficient land management and the involvement of all agricultural
enterprises and stakeholders together with access to high-quality seeds of improved, adapted
varieties and associated technologies. In all of this, there is also clearly a need to integrate
rural women farmers, who form approximately 40% of the farm labour force in Ghana
(FAO), into the commercial agriculture value chains. Integrating rural women farmers into
these value chains requires their active participation in the market. This means that they must
graduate from the traditional subsistence, self-sufficiency goals most commonly practiced, to
a profit and income-oriented paradigm.
This paradigm shift needs to take into account the gap that exists between researchers
and farmers. Although significant investment has been made in agricultural research that
could positively affect rural women farmers, these findings are not being implemented by
farmers. Part of the challenge is that information on seeds of improved varieties, better
farming techniques, post-harvest handling, and marketing are not reaching farmers. A further
challenge is that when information is disseminated to farmers, the information is not always
clearly communicated. Therefore, the gap between the researcher and the farmer continues to
widen, particularly in the rural areas where physical distance separates the researcher from
the rural farmer. Another barrier to entry is language. All of these factors make it even more
difficult for research findings to reach the intended audiences.
Working in this information vacuum creates uncertainty for both the farmers and the
other agribusiness service providers. This in turn hinders business development around
agriculture thereby depressing the potential value chains that can otherwise emerge within the
rural communities. The result is that active participation of the rural female farmers in the
agribusiness markets is hampered.
Strategy
A number of information dissemination platforms have been proposed to address
these challenges. One of them is information communication technologies (ICTs), which
facilitates exchange and flow of information among actors in the value chain; and can be used
to manage transactions, arrange logistics, and ensure that quality specifications are clearly
understood (Soham Sen and Vikas Choudhary, 2011). Television and radio are highly
successful platforms that hold great potential for addressing this “communication gap”. They
can be used to disseminate agricultural research information to (i) Farmers, the chief end
users of the technologies, , (ii) non-governmental organizations (NGOs) dealing in
agriculture, who facilitate the work of the farmers (iii) extension workers, providing advisory
services to the farmers, and (iv) academic Institutions and other researchers who can advance
and improve on the innovations. These media avenues can make the crucial link between
researchers and extension workers by offering critical information on where research
outputs/innovations can be obtained, how they are used, and serve as a feedback platform,
giving upstream feedback through getting communities’ feedback regarding research and
conveying them back to the innovators.
The ways in which people access information are rapidly evolving all over the world.
Africa is no exception, as television outlets proliferate and new media expand the range of
potential information sources. The reach of traditional media (television and print) is far from
uniform throughout the country, Ghana. Mobile phones, however, are opening up a powerful
new avenue of communication and information-sharing for the population, but mobile’s full
promise as an empowering communication tool is yet to be fulfilled. Television has grown
rapidly in recent years to reach many people in some of the very poorest parts of the world. It
is believed that television has the greatest impact on young people and, as such, has the
potential to shape values, attitudes and perceptions of farming and stem down the rural-urban
migration. Television is regarded as a prestigious, powerful and empowering tool that can
raise awareness, generate discussion and increase knowledge. It is an important channel for
advocacy, for drawing policy-makers’ attention to the potential of rural agriculture to the
development of Ghana. Although television is not generally available to communities in very
isolated rural areas, increasingly in many developing countries, it is becoming a reality in the
countryside. Further, rural cinema can be used to take television to the people with
pre-recorded information and series. Radio remains the most powerful, and yet the cheapest,
mass medium for reaching large numbers of people in isolated areas.
Television/print media can be used to collect feedback from communities through
programs where farmers give their responses to researchers, share experiences on the use of
research, providing a platform for farmers’ views/recommendations on how to improve the
research, and provide alternatives depending on their experiences. The media can also be
used to announce processes of research and extension work, advice on where to get
input/services, and advise on where to get technical support.
The use of radio and television has gained currency in East Africa and has shown to
be a very useful tool when combined with other ICT platforms. A notable example is Shamba
Shape Up , produced by Mediae (Kenya). Shamba Shape Up is a reality TV, make-over series
that guides small scale farmers on topics such as improved pest management, irrigation, cattle
rearing, poultry keeping, financial education, crop management techniques, in an engaging
yet informative way. Each series’ content is structured according to what the audience wants
and needs information on. An impact evaluation showed that 89% of the audience learned
something new, and that 46% actually adopted a new practice or improvement directly from
the show. Almost all of the changers said the change had directly improved their productivity
and/or incomes.
Conclusion
In light of this, a comprehensive information dissemination program that targets
female farmers and those involved in the agricultural value chain – providing practical advice
on how to improve agricultural practices through the adoption of new and existing
technologies holds the potential for transformation. Most importantly, it will promote
cooperation among international development agencies, government departments and
directorates, research institutions and agencies, NGOs, media and commercial partners and
farmers all in a bid to modernize agriculture, address the issue of food security, create
employment opportunities and reduce poverty. It would be a novelty to inspire rural women
farmers and the agricultural landscape in Ghana through creating awareness around the
existence of new improved technologies and high quality seeds of improved varieties that
could directly improve the livelihoods of these women farmers. This, I believe, will go a long
way towards influencing policy makers to create opportunities for female farmers to fulfill
their dreams and reach their potential.
By Isaac Mawuko Adusu