By
Jerry Azanduna, GNA
Bawku (UE) Sept. 14, GNA – The Zuuri Organic
Vegetable Farmers Association (ZOVFA) is collaborating with stakeholders in
Agriculture to empower women to improve on gender equity through agriculture.
The stakeholders are the Commission for
Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ, the Ministry of Food and
Agriculture (MOFA) and its allied institutions and the National Commission for
Civic Education (NCCE) among others.
The Association would support the district
gender activist teams to develop their gender strategies for improving women’s
participation in active agriculture, which would strengthen them to contribute
meaningfully to the development of their communities.
Mr Philip Ayamba, the Programmes Director of
ZOVFA, said this at the district Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) phase two
project inception meeting organised by ZOVFA at Bawku in the Upper East Region
and sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
He said CHRAJ, MOFA and the NCCE would
organise District-level Sensitisation and Education on the Civic Rights and
Responsibilities of women, children and persons with disabilities.
The Association, ZOVFA is aimed at Improving
livelihoods and empowering women farmers in Advocacy, Business Development and
Climate Resilience so as to create an environmental friendly society for their
development.
In a presentation on the Key FFF project
objectives, Mr Ayamba said it was focused on developing programmes that would
promote production and marketing of sustainable forest and agricultural
activities.
He said it would provide appropriate
capacity for members who were mostly women, towards increased income and
employment for Non-Traditional Forest Products (NTFP), producers as well as
facilitate Village Savings and Loans (VSL) activities for members.
The phase two initiative of the project is
being championed by ZOVFA and its sister organisations in three ecological
zones of the country and is focused on strengthening Forest and Farm Producer
Organizations (FFPOs) as primary agents of change for resilient landscapes and
improve livelihoods.
It would be working to Organise District
Summits on Policy and Implementation Strategies, to bring clarity on the
policies of the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to enable
the various Forest and Farm Producer Groups (FFPGs) to identify Local Policy
and Legal reform processes that were starting, have started and are on-going
and have direct effect on the interests of members of the Association.
Mr Ayamba said ZOVFA would facilitate
dialogue with the relevant policy reform platforms and processes such as the
Planting for Food & Jobs (PFJ), planting for Export & Rural Development
(PERD) and Youth in Afforestation (YA) for members to patronize existing
opportunities.
GNA
