While women's role in the agricultural sector remains indispensable, a study conducted by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) reveals that only 20.13 percent of them actively engaged in the government's Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative.

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Presenting the study's findings titled 'Assessment of women's participation in the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme' at a stakeholder workshop in Accra that focused on women's contributions to the new Planting for Food and Jobs Programme, Bismark Owusu Nortey, Head of Programmes at PFAG, highlighted that the Eastern, Central, and Ashanti Regions reported the lowest levels of women's participation within the program.

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Conversely, the Greater Accra and Upper East Regions exhibited the highest levels of involvement.

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Nortey linked this reduced engagement to the lack of a strategic mechanism to provide sufficient capital to women in agriculture.

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This challenge was compounded by delayed delivery of agricultural inputs and inadequate distribution to specific regions.

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Additionally, the cultivation of crops receiving minimal fertilizer application further contributed to the disparity in participation.

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“There was no indication of any empowerment initiatives directed toward women farmer-based organisations (FBOs) in terms of leadership training, nor were there any regional gender teams in evidence. Both women and men were required to compete equally for access to inputs within the programme. No safety nets were in place to facilitate women’s access to credit and other resources necessary for purchasing the desired quantity of inputs. Consequently, women generally procured smaller quantities compared to men,” he remarked.

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He further noted that efforts to target and prioritise women were left to the discretion of retailers. Additionally, aggregators and marketers – a sector predominantly populated by women, encountered challenges such as post-harvest losses, an inadequate transportation system, poor road conditions and encounters with security officials, among other issues.

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Mr. Nortey emphasised that value chains primarily led by women were not given precedence in the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative.

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Expectations for the new PFJ

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During his presentation of the 2023 mid-year budget review, finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta disclosed that government is in the concluding stages of Phase II of the PFJ programme – aiming to enhance precise and effective assistance to the agricultural sector.

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The upcoming Phase II comprises essential components including an inputs credit system, establishment of storage and distribution infrastructure, facilitation of commodity trading and implementation of a digitised platform

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Touching on the announcement, Mr. Nortey emphasised that the PFAG envisions a purposeful engagement, active participation and deliberate focus on women’s inclusion in Phase II of the programme.

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Beyond the need to empower more women to assume the role of aggregators, he expressed PFAG’s further expectation for Phase II of PFJ to establish a financing scheme that ensures comprehensive resourcing for women aggregators.

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“We therefore call for transparency of aggregator selection criteria and reserving a quota about 30 percent for women aggregators; or selected aggregators should work with FBOs with at least 40 percent of women as members,” he said.

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Stella Chibelitu, a representative of PFAG’s women’s wing, bemoaned the lack of deliberate efforts to address challenges that women face in the agricultural sector – noting the yet-to-be-reviewed PFJ “did not offer any benefit for us, especially after 2017”.

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“We all know that it is mostly women who lead the buying and selling of agricultural goods. Government must not leave us behind in the new PFJ,” she said.

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