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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Mondelez Inspires Women Into Agriculture

Freda Prempeh (right) and Yaa Peprah Amekudzi addressing participants

THE
COCOA Life Initiative of Mondelez International, a leading chocolate
manufacturer, organised a women’s summit recently which taught participants how
to engage in agriculture, make them independent and protect the environment.

Country
Lead for Mondelez Ghana, Yaa Peprah Amekudzi, in a welcome address, highlighted
the role women played in cocoa farming, adding that such efforts often went
unrecognized.

She
stated that the programme was designed with the knowledge of empowering women
in cocoa communities to better manage their family finances, increase income
from other sources rather than solely depending on farming as a means of
subsistence.

“We
have women’s empowerment action plans which look at helping women run more
successful farms; take a more active role in community decision making; giving
their children quality education; become more entrepreneurial, make cocoa
farming attractive to younger ones and protecting the environment,” she
added.

The
2019 Mondelez Women’s Summit was organised under the theme “Converge,
Connect, Empower, Recharge” in Accra.

In
a keynote address Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection,
Freda Prempeh, commended the cocoa life initiative for bringing women in the cocoa
industry together to educate and empower them with knowledge and also aid them to
be resourceful in their communities, protect the environment and recognize
their contribution in the cocoa industry.

She
stated that women performed 60 per cent of the world’s work, produced 50 per
cent of the food and yet managed only 10 per cent of income and owned just a
per cent of property. She said two thirds of workers in cocoa farming were
women hence the need to empower women to be at the top in the income hierarchy.

She
highlighted government’s commitment to agriculture and its interest in
rewarding hardworking women and strengthening their rights to give them a voice
and make available interventions such as MASLOC, motorized pruners, motorized
spraying machines and other mechanical equipment to improve their yields.

The
conference had in attendance female cocoa farmers from 17 districts across the
country and had the Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection
as the keynote speaker as well as representatives from the COCOBOD.

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