The Central Regional Officer for Women in Agricultural Development (WIAD), Ms. Mabel Konadu Boahen has shared worry over the insignificant level of support offered women in agribusiness, considering their enormous contribution to Ghana's agric sector.
She lamented that aside women constituting about 70% to the formation of the country's agribusiness from the provision of input to farming itself, harvesting, processing, aggregation and even trading of farm produce. The workrate of women in agribusiness still seems unrecognized considering the support offered them.
According to her, women offer a lot in the sustainability of Ghana's agribusiness, thus the need for government to make conscious effort to support women in agriculture, particularly in its 'Feed Ghana Project' to make the sector more appealing and sexy for other females to venture in other to beat down the country's unemployment rate by creating more businesses.
Ms. Mabel Konadu Boahen made this assertion as guest speaker for the official launch of the 2025 Miss Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Contest, held at the University of Cape Coast for the school's agribusiness students on the theme "Seeds of Innovation: Empowering Women in Agribusiness."
The contest which will see seven (7) elegant agribusiness students of UCC battle it out for the ultimate price in the next three months, sort to unearth the agricultural prowess and diversity of these students through innovative agribusiness initiatives in solving agri-related challenges, thereby creating jobs in other not to join in the tall list of unemployed graduates.
The launch saw astute personalities like the Managing Director for Twifo Oil Palm Plantation, Mr. Daniel Kojo Nyame, who chaired the event as well as Management and Tax Consultant, Mr. Perry Mensah, Ms. Victoria Abankwah, the Director of Agric for KEEA Municipality, Leticia Abena Paintsil, Winner of the contest in 2024, among many other dignitaries.
Martha Opoku, Deputy Head for the contest's Organizing Committee, eulogized that the contest is in to motivate women into agribusiness in other to nurthur their business ideas into job creation.
She further appealed on government and the philanthropic society for sponsorship and partnerships, since lots of Ghanaian youths possesses unique business ideas but for financial constraints, most of these business ideas are often wasted.
On behalf of the contestants, Francisca Arthur Ameniko, a level 100 agribusiness student of UCC expressed delight in them joining the competition which seizes to offer them exposure over their colleague students and also help them come out with innovative business ideas to be assisted by agribusiness investors.
In bridging the agribusiness gap between male and females, statistics has it that in the informal sector, men own 56% of agribusinesses in the country, whileas women prides with a percentage of 44 agribusinesses owned.
Sompaonline.com//Eric Annan