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Tamale, Ghana – The Northern Women Development Association (NORWDA) in the Northern Region is advocating access to farmlands for women like their male counterparts.
Rural women throughout the Northern Region contribute greatly to agricultural production and are highly dependent on agriculture as their source of income and livelihood. Yet most of them are denied secure rights and access to land – the most important agricultural asset.
This has made it difficult for women in the region and the district to gain financial independence, making them largely dependent on their husbands.
According to the women group, their inability to have access to farmlands denies them the ability to complement the efforts of their husbands in catering for their children financially.
They said their plea to have equal access to farmlands does not mean they are competing with their male counterparts. Rather, it is aimed at reducing the burden on their husbands and also gaining their financial independence.
The group members said if they are given the opportunity to have access to farmlands, they will be able to double their inputs, thereby increasing food production in the region and Ghana in general.
They further added that due to the long-standing discriminatory cultural practice where farmlands are solely accessed by men, it has limited production capacity, livelihood, and income of women in the region and the Nantong District.
Therefore, they are calling and appealing to all stakeholders in the Nantong District to respond to their concerns and allow them access to farmlands.
The advocacy is funded by the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge Fund (BUSAC Fund) and their partners – USAID, EU and Danida.
Meanwhile, the chiefs and family heads in the district have indicated their willingness and commitment to release farmlands to women in the area to independently undertake agricultural activities for food production and income generation.
At a stakeholders’ meeting in the Nanton District, the chiefs and family heads of the various families in the district made a commitment to ensure that women are given equal access to farmlands in the district for agricultural purposes.
