Celebrating 30th National Farmers Day Amidst Challenges

News commentary on celebrating 30th national farmers day amidst challenges of the poor rural peasant women

In Ghana, millions of small scale family farms most of them managed by very poor women are responsible for feeding over 50 percent of the populace. These small-scale women farmers have serious economic and social challenges. Characteristically of these rural indigenous women, they wade through the early morning dew to go to their farms. Their produce is bought at a ridiculously low price, taking into cognizance the prevailing high price of items at the market. A lot of them are observed carrying produce, accompanied by their children some of whom are of school going age. They carry petty items like brooms, snail, mushrooms, charcoal and fruits to the market centers. Their children receive very low quality education and health care because the professionally trained teachers and health assistants most often refuse to accept posting to their communities because of lack of social amenities. In spite of the tremendous sacrifice and self-denial that these women farmers go through in order to feed many Ghanaians, the criteria used to award national farmers seem to always relegate them completely to the background and they are totally forgotten.  It is always the big scale male-dominated farmers who in many cases are given recognition by the State. Government should therefore put in place, policies to improve the agricultural sectors with special emphasis on small-scale peasant women farmers. Deliberate efforts should be made to increase the number of extension officers in rural communities. 

Research conducted by the Association of Small Scale Farmers reveals that in the Brong Ahafo Region, there is a ratio of seven thousand farmers to one extension officer. The issue of constructing silos in rural communities to store bumper harvests in the country should be considered. At Sefwi Wiawso where the 30th National Farmers Day award was celebrated this year lay abundant silos which could be revamped for the purpose for which it was constructed. Access to financial institutions to obtain loans at low interest rates, provision of insurance policies, social security benefits to cater for them in their old age, should be given prior attention. There is the need for policy makers to provide affordable farm inputs, good health and education facilities, potable water and the like for rural peasant women farmers to ensure their comfort in life. A policy to establish a medium term accelerated agricultural plan needs to be considered for small scale women peasant farmers, and the time for that is now.

BY: NICHOLAS ASMAH-SEY, TUTOR - RELIGIOUS & MORAL EDUCATION UNIT, WIAWSO COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, SEFWI WIAWSO.