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
Ghana’s former President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has been appointed by the African Union to lead its Election Observation Mission for the upcoming presidential elections in the Republic of the Congo.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, by the Office of the former President, the elections in the Central African country are scheduled to take place on March 15, 2026.
The African Union Election Observation Mission will include members from several institutions, including the AU Permanent Representatives Committee, the Pan-African Parliament, the African Governance Platform, election management bodies, independent election experts, civil society organizations, and representatives of women and youth groups.
Akufo-Addo is expected to depart Accra on Friday, March 13, and return on March 18, 2026.
According to the statement, his role will be to lead the team in observing the electoral process and assessing whether the elections are conducted in line with democratic standards.
The mission forms part of the African Union’s efforts to support transparent, credible, and peaceful elections across the continent.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, has criticized the government for failing to implement the automatic posting system for trained teachers.
According to him, the policy, which ensured that trained teachers were automatically posted to classrooms after completing their mandatory national service, has been cancelled under the administration of President John Dramani Mahama.
In a facebook post , Nana B said the system had existed for many years and was maintained during the tenure of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, when trained teachers were posted into the classroom immediately after completing national service.
He claimed that the cancellation of the system has left many newly trained teachers unemployed.
According to him, graduates from the 2023 and 2024 batches, who completed their national service in December 2024 and December 2025 respectively, were expected to be posted in January 2025 and January 2026 but are still waiting for employment.
Nana B also referenced comments by the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, who reportedly indicated that about 90,000 trained teachers are currently awaiting employment.
He said the minister explained that the government cannot employ all of them at once due to financial constraints and plans to recruit them in phases.
According to Nana B, the minister indicated that the first tranche of recruitment could involve between 6,000 and 10,000 teachers, although no timeline has been provided for when the process will begin.
He argued that at that pace it could take several years to employ all the teachers currently waiting, especially as new graduates continue to enter the job market each year.
By: Jacob Aggrey
