News
‘Prioritise needs of women in agric sector’
Women farmers and agribusiness owners have called on the government and stakeholders in agriculture to prioritise the unique needs of women in the sectorin order to enhance the country’s food security and foster economic growth.
According to them, women who play significant roles in ensuring the nation’s food security faced numerous challenges that hindered their ability to increase their production.
Madam HabibataHaruna, a farmer, made the call on behalf of her colleagues on Friday at a policy dialogue at Wa in the Upper West Region on the theme, “Shaping Ghana’s Agricultural Future: The Role of Rural Women”.
It was part of activities to herald the commemoration of this year’s International Day of Rural Women.
It was organised by the Feed the Future Ghana Policy LINK Activity in collaboration with four other partners; the Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity, Ghana Mobilising Finance in Agriculture (MFA) Activity, Resilience in Northern Ghana and Strengthening Systems Activity, Ghana Trade and Investment Initiative (GTI) supported by the Women in Agriculture Development of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).
The dialogue brought together over 80 participants, with the majority being women groups and associations in agriculture from the five USAID’s Zone of Influence (ZOI) districts, namely Daffiama-BussieIssah, Wa East, Sissala West, Sissala East and Nadowli-Kaleo.
Madam Habibata, summarising the discussions by the women, said they hoped for inclusion and active participation in the sector’s policy and governance processes.
Addressing the participants, MrYunusAbdulai, the Country Lead of Feed the Future Ghana Policy LINK, emphasised that the United States Government, through its Feed the Future initiative, had been dedicated to addressing issues affecting women, particularly rural women in agriculture.
He said the active involvement of women in agriculture was pivotal to enhancing productivity at all levels, and said women needed support to enable them work diligently.
Present at the dialogue session were officials of the Regional Department of Agriculture led by Mr Emmanuel SasuYeboah, the Regional Director and representatives of civil society organisations in the region.
From Rafia Abdul Razak, Wa
Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Nyarko Ampem has today revealed in Parliament that special audit has uncovered over payments for transportation of grains in respect of the dry spell expenditure.
According to the Deputy Minister, Under the Farmer Food Relief and Recovery Programme, a transportation company was contracted to transport 134,000 metric tonnes of maize and rice to farmers across the country at a contract sum of GH¢115.2 million.
Even though the company transported only 35,000 metric tonnes which should have costed GH¢30.9 million, the company was paid GH¢50 million.
In addition to this payment, the company was given 7,311 metric tonnes of rice equivalent to 14,622 bags of 50kg rice, which amounts to GH¢11.7 million in lieu of cash for no work done. This brings total payment to GH¢61.7 million.
As a result, the Auditor-General accordingly rejected an amount of GH¢65.2 million that was requested by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture as additional payment to the said transport company.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
Deputy Minister for Finance, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, has revealed that thousands of tonnes of food supplied under government’s 2024 dry spell intervention cannot be accounted for after a special audit.
According to him, the audit found discrepancies in the supply of rice and maize purchased by the Government of Ghana to support farmers and vulnerable communities affected by the dry spell.
He explained that government paid for 34,000 metric tonnes of rice to help address the impact of the dry spell. However, records from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture show that only 24,000 metric tonnes were received and distributed.
He noted that about 10,000 metric tonnes of rice remain unaccounted for even though the full quantity had already been paid for by the state.
The deputy minister also disclosed that government had contracted a company to supply 100,000 metric tonnes of maize as part of the intervention.
He said the Ministry of Food and Agriculture submitted Stores Receipt Advice as proof that the full quantity of maize valued at GH¢771.2 million had been delivered. The document was presented to the Ministry of Finance to facilitate payment.
However, the audit revealed that only 11,900 metric tonnes of maize were actually supplied and distributed.
He further stated that the Stores Receipt Advice used to support the payment was accompanied by a checklist certified by the internal auditor of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
The findings form part of a special audit conducted to review government expenditure related to the dry spell response in 2024.
By Jacob Aggrey
