Gender
Guzakuza WAW Ghana 2025 calls for gender equity in agribusiness
Stakeholders at the launch of Women in Agribusiness Week 2025, have urged bold action to address gender disparities in agriculture, stressing that women’s empowerment is critical to food security, rural development, and inclusive economic growth.
The Women in Agribusiness Week (WAW) Ghana 2025, organised by Guzakuza-a leading organisation committed to empowering women in agribusiness across Africa—was launched in Koforidua in the Eastern Region, bringing together policymakers, entrepreneurs, and advocates.
Addressing this year’s Women in Agribusiness Week theme: “Innovating for a Resilient Agribusiness: Finance, Technology and Market Access for Growth”, stakeholders took turns to highlight the need for innovation, equity, and investment to unlock the full potential of Ghanaian women in agribusiness.
Hajia Habiba Yusifu, Eastern Regional Director of Agriculture, described women as “the lifeline of rural and national economies,” but noted that they continue to face systemic barriers.
“For decades, African women have been trapped in poverty cycles due to unequal access to education, resources, and technology,” she said.
Adding, “Empowering women in agriculture is not only a moral imperative but also an economic necessity.”
She cited research indicating that closing the gender gap could significantly boost agricultural productivity, reduce hunger, and stimulate economic growth.
“We must provide women with equal access to land, finance, and modern technologies to enable them to become catalysts for innovation, productivity, and sustainable development,” she added.
Hajia Yusifu also called for increased representation of women in farmer cooperatives and decision-making platforms.
“Women’s voices must be heard and their perspectives considered when designing programmes that affect their livelihoods,” she said.
In a speech read on her behalf, Eastern Regional Minister, Mrs Rita Akosua Adjei Awatey, echoed the appeal, noting that women constitute 70 per cent of Ghana’s agricultural workforce but face challenges in scaling their businesses.
“Access to affordable credit and investment is vital for women to transition from subsistence farming to commercial agribusiness,” she said.
She highlighted government interventions under the Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda, including the Feed Ghana Programme and the Grains and Legumes Development Programme, which aim to enhance resilience and productivity.
“Our efforts in agriculture are not only about producing more food, but also about building resilience and ensuring that farmers, particularly women, can withstand climate change and market fluctuations,” she said.
Ms Vida Akuamoah Boateng, Project Officer at Guzakuza, said the conference provided a platform for product marketing, networking, and knowledge exchange.
“Industry experts add knowledge that enhances creativity, and through networking, women can support each other long after the event,” she said.
She acknowledged persistent challenges such as limited access to finance, land ownership, and fragile market access.
“That is why we organise exhibitions—to encourage women to add value to their produce and connect them with buyers,” she said.
She also emphasized the importance of agro-processing, noting, “We are still in the early stages of value addition. We encourage women to go into processing to make their products competitive locally and internationally.”
Mrs Perpetual Kyei, Executive Director of Guzakuza, said her organisation has built a pan-African ecosystem for women entrepreneurs in agribusiness.
“Our flagship Ignite programme has trained over 5,000 women from 36 countries since 2015,” she said. “We continue to connect alumni to collaborate and grow.”
Since 2015, Guzakuza has launched programmes such as Ignite, SheFarms, and the continental Women in Agribusiness Week (WAW Africa).
While WAW Africa 2025 will be hosted in Uganda, the Ghana edition marks the first national platform of its kind dedicated to women in agribusiness.
This year’s WAW Ghana was held in partnership with MTN Momo, Ghana Standards Authority, Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, and the Association of Ghana Industries.
Exhibitors showcased processed foods, packaged staples, cosmetics, and beverages produced by women-led enterprises.
Organisers said the programme rotates annually across Ghana to ensure broad participation.
A continental edition, WAW Africa, is scheduled for November, bringing together women entrepreneurs from across Africa to share innovations and expand market access. -GNA
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Across many farming communities in Northern Ghana, women routinely carry their infants on their backs while engaging in strenuous farm labour. This practice, though rooted in necessity and resilience, exposes both mothers and their babies to significant health risks, particularly musculoskeletal strain and developmental concerns.
For these women, the decision to take babies to the farm is rarely optional. It reflects the absence of affordable childcare, entrenched gender roles, and persistent economic pressures that compel women to combine farming, childcare, and household duties simultaneously.
Everyday Reality
In many rural communities in Northern Ghana, women begin their day before sunrise, balancing farm work with domestic responsibilities such as fetching water and firewood, cooking, and caring for children. Carrying infants on their backs, strapped with cloth, enables them to breastfeed and monitor their babies while going about their farming activities.
The use of outdated tools increases the risk of sprains and strains. Exposure to pesticides, extreme heat, and zoonotic infections further endanger women, especially those who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Effects on Mothers
Dr. Enoch Harvoh, a Senior Medical Doctor at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, explained in an interview with GNA that the primary health risks stem from prolonged physical strain. He identified several key concerns, including musculoskeletal pain, postural changes, chronic fatigue, injury risk, and other hazards such women face.
Dr. Harvoh explained that musculoskeletal issues such as chronic lower back, upper back, neck, and shoulder pain are common among women who farm with babies on their backs. He added that back-carrying alters spinal alignment, increasing pelvic tilt and causing abnormal curvature of the spine, medically described as cervokypholordotic posture.
The combination of farming, domestic work, and childcare leads to severe physical exhaustion and stress, while frequent bending, squatting, and lifting further contribute to physical strain.
Effects on Infants
While back-carrying supports bonding and infant safety, prolonged exposure in farm environments presents risks to infants. These include:
- Lower limb development concerns
- Restricted movement and visual stimulation
- Potentially affected sensorimotor development
- Exposure to farm hazards including chemicals, machinery, and excessive heat
According to Dr. Harvoh, some studies link extended back-carrying to changes in leg alignment, such as genu valgum (knock-knees), though these are often within normal clinical limits.
Labour and Time Constraints
Women face chronic labour shortages, especially during peak farming seasons. Combined with unpaid domestic work and childcare, this creates extreme physical and mental strain.
Madam Saada Abdul, a farmer from Kpadjai in the Kpandai District, told GNA that she regularly carries her baby while weeding, harvesting, transporting crops, and cooking. “The work is very hard, and the baby’s weight adds to the pain in my back and waist. I hardly get time to rest compared to my husband,” she said.
Similarly, Madam Ramatu Iddris from the Nawuri community explained that women often prioritise labour on their husbands’ farms, reducing productivity on their own plots. Limited access to tractors, credit, extension services, and market information forces many women to rely on manual labour while carrying their babies.
These compounded challenges heighten women’s vulnerability to climate shocks such as drought, erratic rainfall, and economic downturns.
Intersecting Challenges
The practice of carrying babies to farms is embedded within broader structural inequalities. Customary inheritance systems largely favour men, leaving women with limited access to land. Many women farm on their husbands’ plots or borrow small, less fertile parcels of land, discouraging long-term investment and access to credit or extension services.
Women account for more than half of Ghana’s agricultural labour force, particularly in subsistence farming in the Northern Sector, yet much of their work remains informal and undervalued, with limited recognition in economic planning and policy frameworks.
Resilience and Coping Strategies
Despite these hardships, Northern women farmers demonstrate remarkable resilience. Common coping mechanisms include forming women’s farming groups to access training, credit, and inputs. Livelihood diversification, such as engaging in shea butter processing, poultry rearing, petty trading, charcoal production, and seasonal migration, can help supplement income.
Recommendations
Stakeholders in agriculture, health, and local governance must prioritise targeted interventions to reduce the physical burden on women farmers. Key recommendations include:
- Establishing community-based childcare centres to reduce the need to carry babies to farms
- Providing practical ergonomic training on safe lifting, posture, and culturally appropriate baby-carrying techniques
- Improving access to appropriate farm tools and small-scale mechanisation
- Strengthening workplace protections through rest breaks, access to potable water, and protective equipment
- Formally recognising women’s unpaid care and agricultural labour in national and district development planning
Health professionals also recommend targeted strengthening and stretching exercises for the lower back and pelvic muscles to mitigate long-term physical strain associated with combined farming and childcare responsibilities.
Conclusion
Women farmers are indispensable to Ghana’s food security and rural livelihoods. Yet their contributions come at a high personal cost due to systemic inequities, limited support services, and entrenched gender roles.
Addressing the health and productivity challenges faced by women who farm with babies on their backs is not only a matter of equity but a critical investment in national development, public health, and future generations.
—GNA
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A training and capacity-building workshop was held on Thursday for the media to intensify coverage on gender-based issues to support women’s participation in leadership and governance in Accra.
The workshop, held under the theme ‘Strengthening Advocacy for the Implementation of Ghana’s Affirmative Action (Equity) Law, 2024 – The Case of the Media’, brought together journalists from selected media houses.
The Convener of the Affirmative Action (AA) Law Coalition, Ms Sheila Minka-Premo (Esq.), stressed that the media has a critical responsibility to educate the public on the importance of the Affirmative Action Act, noting that sustained and informed reporting would strengthen advocacy and support the effective implementation of the law.
While commending both the Legislature and the Executive for the passage and presidential assent of the Affirmative Action Bill into law, the AA Law Coalition Convener appealed to government to address existing gaps. These include the constitutional provision of 30 per cent women’s representation in politics, inadequate policy frameworks to advance affirmative action, and weak compliance by state institutions.
She charged the media to highlight and promote the role of women in leadership and to actively support a smooth and effective implementation process of the Act.
In her welcome address, Executive Director of ABANTU for Development, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, said the training sought to strengthen journalists’ advocacy skills to enable them to educate the public on the provisions and significance of the law.
Dr Mensah-Kutin commended ActionAid Ghana for supporting the advocacy efforts, urging the media to prioritise the law to ensure its sustainability.
The Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024 (Act 1121) was passed by Parliament in July 2024 and received presidential assent in September 2024, following years of sustained advocacy by women’s rights organisations, gender activists, and other stakeholders.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
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