A pan-African movement supporting young women, CAMFED Ghana, has launched its Agriculture Guide Programme in Accra.
The programme is to help community members, especially women, establish and run sustainable agribusinesses, build community resilience to climate change, and ensure food security.
Using smart-agric model, CAMFED Ghana plans to select and train Agricultural Guides from the CAMFED Association (CAMA).
These Agricultural Guides will then identify ten other CAMA members in their communities who are “agripreneurs” and mentor them over time.
Together with the ten young women selected by these Agriculture Guides, they will move into their communities to deliver the Climate-Smart Agriculture content to community members.
Speaking to Myrepubliconline the National Director of CAMFED Ghana, Mrs Fairuza Safian, said a curriculum has been developed for use during the program’s implementation.
She added that, “We have put together a curricula, with support from the technical working group coming from research institutions, universities, and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. So, there are various interventions in there, based on what we are experiencing in Ghana – the soil, the water system in Ghana, the rainfall pattern, what kind of seeds people should be farming based on their location, and what they can do to ensure that there will be higher yields.
“So, these people will share their knowledge with people within the agriculture-value chain to improve their work.”
Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of the Acting Chief Director of MoFA, the Principal Agricultural Officer with the Crop Services Department at MoFA, Mr. Kingsley Agyemang, sad the Ministry’s support for the programme, highlighting its commitment to women’s empowerment.
The CAMFED Ghana Agriculture Guide Programme is very much aligned with the ministry’s objectives and vision in combating climate change impacts, especially among women and other vulnerable groups.
“Thus, providing women farmers with practical guidance, tools, and knowledge to adopt climate-smart practices complements our ongoing efforts to empower smallholder farmers, promote sustainable agricultural development, and improve food security.”
Mr Agyemang again, called for stakeholder collaboration to improve the outcomes of the programme.
He said, “It is worth noting that the implementation of this programme will not be without challenges. It will require concerted efforts from all stakeholders, including government agencies, civil society organizations, and the private sector to address any challenge that would hinder the successful implementation of this programme.
‘We must work together to provide CAMFED Ghana with the necessary support and guidance, to enable them to succeed in this endeavour, to empower Ghanaian women, build the resilience of communities, and improve national food security,” he stated.
The CAMFED Agriculture Guide Program is looking at 150,000 members and 400,000 school children being reached with climate-smart agricultural education by 2026.
The programme is expected to improve climate resilience, better nutrition, girls thriving in school, and green livelihoods.
