Wa Coalition supports women skills training
The Wa Municipal PTA/SMC Coalition, a non-governmental organisation helping to improve education and women empowerment, has provided various skills trainings and income generating activities for women in 21 communities in the Wa Municipality.
The women were trained in soap making, pomade making, livestock rearing, soya utilisation, shea butter, groundnut and rice processing among other skills to increase their economic capacities.
The project was sponsored by STAR Ghana, a multi-donor pooled organisation.
Madam Ruby Yap, Executive Director of the Coalition, said women from Yibile, Zingu, Charia, Busa, Nakori, Kperisi, Biihee and Kpongu communities among others, benefitted from the training.
She said the groups were also trained on documentation and recording, which she explained was vital before any skills training to ensure the sustainability of their ventures.
Madam Yap said a total of 1,124 beneficiaries from 49 farmer based organisations were developed and assisted under the project.
She said the initiative was to help strengthen the capacities of the women and encourage them to accept leadership roles especially in school committees and other community groups.
“This will help increase the opportunities of the women to participate actively in community development affairs and give them more voice to table their concerns and challenges for policy makers and implementers to address,” she said.
Madam Yap said the Coalition is facilitating increased women participation in school and community affairs, as well as improving their access to various services.
The body is also collaborating with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to identify women farmer- based groups in the communities for support.
She said the women’s groups formed part of the Women Extension Volunteer (WEV) programme, which is being implemented by the MOFA, towards achieving the Agricultural Development for Sustainable Livelihood and Food Security Agenda of Ghana
The WEV Programme is designed to ensure extension services and agricultural information dissemination and accessible to poor rural farmers, particularly women in the Upper West Region.
This will improve the capacity of MOFA to develop and implement gender responsive mechanisms for extension delivery to small-scale farmers.
Madam Yap said the programme would also help to boost the extension farmer ratio in the region and improve collaboration between MOFA and Millennium Development Agenda to respond to food security issues of small-scale farmers.
Source: GNA