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Prepared by Supported by:
SENDGHANA
diakoniaPEOPLE CHANGING THE WORLD
Policy Brief No. 4/October2014
PolicyBrief
Women and Smallholder Agriculture in
Ghana
Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
Introduction
Ghana government's vision for the agriculture sector is the
transformation of the peasantry farming system into a sustainable
commercial production that is anchored on improved market access. A
key strategy for the realization of this vision finds expression in the
Government's commitment to invest at least 10 percent of its annual
budgetary resources to the agricultural sector. The investment agenda
for the sector takes inspiration from the Maputo Declaration on
agricultural investments to which the Government of Ghana is a
signatory. It is expected that by committing a minimum of 10% of total
annual revenue to the sector, the corollary to follow will be an attainment
of 6 percent annual agricultural growth rate.
An analysis of annual budget allocations and spending on the
agriculture sector since 2004 showed significant improvement in
investment in the sector. Since 2006, the Government of Ghana has
consistently met the 10% minimum threshold, and in some instances
1Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
surpassed the minimum percentage. It is therefore not surprising that
many research results indicate that the country met the Millennium
Development Goal (MDG) 1.The number of people living below the
poverty line in Ghana decreased from 31.9% (2005/2006) to 24.2%
(2012/2013) representing a 7.7 percentage point reduction in poverty.
As reported by the Ghana Statistical Services, the Agricultural sector st 1
recorded the highest growth rate of 12.7% in the 1 quarter of 2014 .
However, the relative growth increase in the sector with its benefits
accruing thereof to smallholder farmers has not been equitably
distributed between men and women farmers. Indeed, research by
SEND-Ghana, Action Aid Ghana and the Peasant Farmers Association of
Ghana (PFAG) have shown that men farmers have benefited more than
women in government programmes such as the Youth in Agriculture
Programme; the Northern Rural Growth Programme; the Fertilizer
Subsidy Programme; and the Agricultural Mechanization Service Centre
(AMSEC). The Women in Agriculture Development Directorate (WIAD)
of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) exist to address specific
and peculiar gender issues in agriculture. Nevertheless, its own
challenges of limited funding, inadequate human resource and logistics
have restricted the attainment of their vision of being “a highly
professional and competent Public Institution that supports livelihoods
and wellbeing of especially women in the agricultural sector”.
The WIAD of MoFA is primarily responsible for policy formulation;
developing and implementation of policies which are beneficial to
women farmers and agro-processors in the rural, suburban and urban
communities. It provides technical backstopping to regional and district
staff for effective transfer of appropriate technologies to farm families
engaged in crop, livestock and fish production and the, processing,
2 Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
1 Ghana Statistical Service (2014) Newsletter Quarterly Gross Domestic Product (QGDP) First Quarter 2014
3Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
utilization and marketing of the produce through regional officers and
other stakeholders. As one of the seven Technical Directorates of MoFA,
WIAD is also responsible for gender mainstreaming of all agricultural
policies, programmes and projects through the implementation of the
Gender and Agricultural Development Strategy (GADS).
The GADS provides a framework for achieving a 'gender-sensitive'
agricultural sector and identifies eight objectives. Though these
objectives are vital, little progress has been made on most of them as
revealed by Action Aid Ghana. Several of the indicators and
commitments outlined in the GADS are being missed. For instance, the
strategy calls for a 'yearly reduction' in the extension officer/farmer ratio.
However, as officially reported by MoFA in 2012 and 2013, the extension
officer /farmer ratio is 1: 1500. This shows that the overall strategy is not
being taken seriously.
In line with the mission “to promote good governance and equality for
women and men in Ghana”, SEND-GHANA under its Smallholder
Agriculture Development (SHAD) Programme is producing this policy
4 Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
brief to share the information obtained using its tested participatory
monitoring and evaluation framework. This policy brief is a follow-up on
the gender issues raised in two research reports on smallholder
agriculture published in 2010 and 2013 titled respectively: “Investing in
Smallholder Agriculture for Optimal Results: The Ultimate Policy
Choice for Ghana” and “Building Resiliency for Upcoming Challenges:
The Need to Restore Confidence in Smallholder Farmers”.
Women are the key actors in Ghana's agriculture, constituting over half
the agricultural labour force and producing 70 per cent of the country's
food stock. Women constitute 95 per cent of those involved in agro-
processing and 85 per cent of those in food distribution. Their contribution to agricultural work varies even more widely
depending on the specific crop under cultivation, type of involvement
and activity. Besides agriculture-related activities, smallholder women
farmers are heavily engaged in domestic and reproductive tasks, which
are crucial to the maintenance of households, and communities. These
tasks are regarded as an extension of household duties and hence, remain
hidden economically.
Due to the specific role of smallholder women farmers in food
production, many of them are repositories of knowledge on cultivation,
processing, and preservation of nutritious and locally adapted crop
varieties. It is estimated that if women farmers had the same access to
productive resources as their men counterpart, they could increase yields
on their farms by 20 to 30 percent, and this could raise total agricultural
output in Ghana by 4 percent, which in turn could reduce hunger by 17
percent. In the long run, this would improve family nutrition, food
security, maternal and child health, promote environmental
Women's contribution in agriculture
management, minimize poverty levels and reduce conflicts.To maximize the impact of agricultural intervention and programmes, it
is important to recognize the differing roles, needs and priorities of men
and women. Such recognition is crucial to appreciating the different
inequalities they face and to ensure that these are given due consideration
in agriculture-related programming, policy formulation and
implementation.
Similar to the experience in the services sector, Ghana's agriculture is
rapidly changing; presenting opportunities, challenges and risks to
women and men farmers. Knowledge, innovations and technology are
advancing; markets are changing very fast especially for the higher value
products; environmental degradation and climate change require
improved sustainable natural resource management; land tenure and
food security particularly for women smallholder farmers. These changes
have differential impact on men and women farmers.
Constraints of women in agriculture
5Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
6 Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
Despite the fact that women constitute most farmers and produce most of
Ghana's food, they are virtually invisible in the agriculture budget. There
appear to be no budget lines specifically targeting women farmers in
MoFA's budget apart from the allocation to the Women in Agriculture
Development Directorate (WIAD). Consistently, WIAD has been
underfunded, for instance, of MoFA's GH¢ 221 million budget allocation
in 2011, WIAD was to receive GH¢ 867,762, representing a paltry 0.4 per
cent.
In almost all cultures and traditions in Ghana, gender is not only a key
determinant of access to productive resources but also the basis for the
division of labour within the household, the social value attributed to
different types of work, and bargaining power. Gender inequalities
which are widespread in agriculture and rural employment manifest in
forms such as limited access to; assets, inputs and services – including
land, livestock, other productive assets, labour, extension and limited
financial services, and mechanization.
One of the most significant gender-based constraints that women farmers
face is access to, ownership and control of agricultural land. On the
average, only 10 per cent of Ghanaian women farmers own land
compared to 23 per cent of men and the average value of land holdings for
women are three times lower than that of men. Women smallholder
farmers in Ghana seldom own the land they cultivate. In all the region of
Ghana for which data are available, research by the Civil Society Coalition
on Land (CICOL) have shown that women are less likely to own land, and
in cases where they own it, the lands are usually small in size limiting any
large scale production.
Women's restricted control over land reflects deep-rooted land tenure
Women access to land and agricultural credit
customary practices and laws. At the heart of these restrictions are the
customary inheritance norms that determine access to land and that may
conflict with the existing legal regime. The unsecured access and limited
control over land by women usually affects their access to credit, and
limits their land use and decisions related to cropping and their ability to
maintain diversified livelihood systems.
Even where land is available for smallholder women farmers to cultivate, limited access to credit and finance can further impede efforts to increase productivity on the farm. Without access to loans at low interest rates (farmer friendly interest rates), women farmers are unable to invest in future production or to take a risk and diversify into producing new crops. Our participatory monitoring in Northern Region, Upper East, Upper West,
and Greater Accra Regions, indicates that access to credit with flexible terms is the first priority of women smallholder farmers. Our research in 2013 showed that only 16 per cent of smallholder farmers are able to access credit with wide regional variations. For instance in Greater Accra,
Access to credit
7Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
8 Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
20 percent of women farmers had access to credit; whereas in Upper East, less than 1 in 10 did. Credit to women farmers can finance important investments in businesses and equipment including processingequipment that can make huge differences to farm production, marketing and income.
It is estimated however, that for every 100 Ghanaian men accessing credit,
only 47 women do. As reported in the 2013 Agriculture Sector Annual
Progress report, the Agricultural Development Bank in 2013 approved a
total facility of GH¢66, 323,081.47 to support activities in the agricultural
and allied sectors. This represents a percentage reduction of 54.84 in
comparison with 2012 level with women receiving less than 30 percent of
the agricultural credit. The inability of women farmers to obtain credit
and other financial services is often due to their limited education and
mobility, social and cultural barriers. In some cultures especially in the
three regions of northern Ghana, customs prevent women from receiving
information directly from outside lenders. These factors contribute in
making it difficult for women to graduate to the formal financial sector
confining majority of them to small and informal micro-credit schemes.
Smallholder women farmers and agro processors face gender-specific
critical constraints to market availability and access. These difficulties
include but not limited to lower and sometimes no mobility which forces
them to use intermediaries to market their farm produce and less access to
market information resulting in weak bargaining power in relation to
other actors in the value chain. Women generally remain concentrated at
the production end of the agriculture value chain, finding it difficult than
men to carve out new roles in value chain to increase their income. Long
distances to the village markets, low prices paid for food crops
especially at harvest periods, the high market tolls demanded by the
Limited markets and market access
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies serve as key
constraints to market access for most women farmers.
The unequal access to markets for women results from gender
inequalities in access to resources such as capital, technology,
information, education and land. Cultural factors play a significant role in
maintaining these inequalities. Women's contributions to household care
services, cultural biases that determine women's roles, potential
harassment by market or trade officials, all make it difficult for women to
travel long distances to seek the best prices for their farm output. As men
are holding the visible power in market exchanges, they are more likely to
be approached by agricultural companies or other representatives
wanting to engage in business. Women may also face cultural and socio-
economic barriers to membership in farmer organizations and
cooperatives, which may further inhibit their access to market.
9Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
10 Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
Inadequate agriculture extension services
The agricultural sector in Ghana is changing rapidly and is driven by a
number of external and global factors. Responding to the changing
context requires among other things improved extension service
delivery. Extension services delivery is crucial in promoting agricultural
innovation to keep pace with the changing context and to improve
livelihoods of the smallholder farmers. Over the years however, the
demand placed on extension service delivery has increased manifold.
Smallholder farmers can improve their productivity by accessing training
or information on the best farming techniques, on new, higher-yielding
crop varieties or on what crops are likely to produce. However, the
availability of such services remains low for both women and men, but
women benefit less than men, as they do not have access to information
and/or adequate preparation to take advantage of available services.
Data on extension services in Ghana show that coverage is not always
uniform, and positions within the Agricultural Extension Directorate are
not always filled, limiting the support farmers are able to receive. For
example, as reported in the 2013 Agriculture Annual Progress Report, of
the 3,909 Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) required in the Ministry
of Food and Agriculture, only 2,068 are filled culminating in a very low
AEA farmer ratio (1:1,500) coupled with low AEA running motor bike
ratio (0.5). A recent IFPRI study found that only 56 per cent of operational
areas have designated extension officers.
This situation is worsened by the fact that there are few trained women
working in agriculture extension. Of all the AEAs in the country, only
13% are females which are far below MoFA's target of 30%. Combined
with the large number of farm households in the country, these small
numbers of positions mean that on average, extension services reach
about 70% of farming communities in the with women farmers mostly left
out of the reach of extension officers. Agricultural production and
productivity cannot increase without a substantial increase in access to
extension services by smallholder women farmers.
In Ghana, agricultural extension services are largely delivered in complex
environments structured a priori by gender relations. The organization of
extension service provision is generally based on male needs and is the
product of male-dominated organizations. It rarely recognizes women's
time burdens, and different time schedules from men. In many cultures,
especially in the three regions in the north, the lack of female extension
workers is a major constraint, particularly given the fact that male
extension workers often find it difficult to reach women due to social
norms that may prohibit female interaction with non-family men.
In some contexts, as revealed by the Peasant Farmers Association's report
in 2013, it is culturally more acceptable for female farmers to interact with
female extension agents, and employing female extension agents can be
11Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
12 Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
an effective means of reaching female farmers. Extension services for
women must consider all the roles of women; women's needs as farmers
are often neglected in favour of programmes aimed at household
responsibilities. Extension systems will also have to be more innovative
and flexible to account for social and cultural obstacles and for time and
mobility constraints.
Farm productivity is positively associated with the availability of farm
power coupled with efficient farm implements and their judicious
utilization. Farming in Ghana unfortunately, remains largely subsistence
in nature with limited availability of tractors for ploughing. As a result,
women farmers continue to heavily rely on the hand hoe and human
labour; factors responsible for their characteristic limited scale of
production and delayed planting. Besides, majority of the smallholder
women farmers can hardly afford improved seeds, planting and stocking
materials due to the increasing cost of such inputs.
Studies have shown that 99.4% smallholder farmers in Ghana use
traditional, rudimentary and obsolete technologies and methodologies
for post-harvest operations.
Greater number of women farmers have minimal access to information
on the availability of affordable equipment, which can enable them
improve on their outputs. Limited access to mechanical tools and
technologies used for the agriculture sector, however, has made life even
more difficult for women farmers.
To enable farmers who cannot afford to own agricultural equipment and
machinery to have access to timely mechanized services, MoFA have
facilitated the establishment of 89 Agricultural Mechanization Service
Women and Agricultural Mechanization
Centre (AMSEC) across the country to ensure access to mechanization
facilities for farmers. Unfortunately, the AMSECS have not significantly
improved the running tractor to farmer ratio. Currently the ratio stands at
1:1500 implying that 1,500 farmers rely on a single tractor for farm
operations. A report by the Agricultural Engineering Services Division,
(2010) indicates that the percentage of agricultural land area ploughed
(mechanized area) is 22.5% of the total cultivated area. The area ploughed
by tractors is 2,487,375 ha/yr while area ploughed by draught animals per
annum is 80,000 ha.
Our participatory monitoring in the Greater Accra Region shows that few
farmers currently benefit from the scheme. Our study notes that 60
percent of farmers use tractors on their farms. However, almost all of the
farmers currently hire tractors from private companies, with only 3
percent accessing tractors under the subsidy scheme. Agricultural
mechanization is a powerful tool in achieving sustainable agricultural
production because it enhances human capacity with the potential
beneficiaries being men and women farmers. Besides improving
13Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
14 Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
production efficiency, agricultural mechanization encourages large-scale
production and improves the quality of farm produce.
Agricultural policies and programmes that exclude the primary producers
of food are self-defeating. The eradication of gender discrimination is one
of the key ways to increase the supply of food and income of farmers.
Constraints of livelihoods security faced by women in agriculture are all
related to inadequate access to the relevant resources, services, benefits
and decision-making mechanisms in the agricultural sector. Closing the
gender gap requires the implementation of adequate measures and
policies specifically designed to eliminate existing inequalities in all areas
of agriculture. Such measures include addressing the direct causes of the
gap, as well as aiming to change the cultural perceptions of deep-rooted
unequal gender relationships in agriculture. Challenges related to
ownership and access to of land, credit and markets, are deeply rooted in
socio-cultural norms and in some cases policies and legislation. These are
thus entrenched and not easily and necessarily amenable to change.
Conclusion
Recommendations
£In order to make a real impact on food production and food
security, agriculture spending and policy need to undergo a re-
orientation to focus on women farmers. In line with the call by
WIAD, MoFA should strategically target at least 30 per cent
women participation in all programmes and projects.
£Government should stop discrimination in land ownership and
tenure by taking immediate steps to guarantee equal rights to land
for men and women, independent of their civil status; and
implement policies and programmes to facilitate women's access
to and control over land for agricultural purposes.
£MoFA should overhaul extension services delivery in Ghana to
make them gender sensitive, for example by increasing the
number of female extension agents, establishing pro-female
farmer field schools and farmer-to-farmer exchanges, and set up
gender-sensitive learning and evaluation mechanisms to improve
extension service to women farmers.
£Government should establish a Women Enterprise Fund similar to
the Youth Enterprise Support Fund to help provide credit to
women farmers who cannot access the formal financial sector
access. The key will be to ensure that it has sufficient capital to
reach large numbers of women farmers, and that it is transparently
and efficiently managed jointly by MoFA and the Ministry of
Gender, Children and Social Protection.
£The Policy Planning Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate of
MoFA and the FBO Desk at the Directorate of Agricultural
Extension Services should support and engage actively with
15Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
women's civil society organizations and networks such as farmer'
groups and women's cooperatives and facilitate their systematic
inclusion and participation in the development, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of agricultural policies and
programmes.
£To enhance mechanization among women farmers, individual
farmers as well as farmers' groups that are eager to procure
tractors and improved traditional tools should be targeted for
support by the Agricultural Engineering Services Directorates of
MoFA. This would help reduce the labour shortages for land
preparation and would improve women's productivity since they
will make use of less energy while producing more for home
consumption and for the market.
16 Women and Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana
SEND Foundation of West Africa has three affiliates: SEND-GHANA, SEND-
LIBERIA and SEND-SIERRA LEONE.
Vision
A Ghana where people's rights and well-being are guaranteed
Mission
We work to promote good governance and equality of women and men in Ghana.
People and Contacts
Siapha KamaraChief Executive OfficerSEND-WEST AFRICATel: +(233) 208 112 322 (Ghana)Email:
Osman MohammedCountry Programme OfficerSEND-SIERRA LEONEBuedu Road, Kissi TownKailahun, Sierra Leone.Tel: +(232) 766 797 90/ +(232) 765 883 03Post Office Box 54Kenema, Sierra Leone.Email: [email protected]
George Osei-BimpehCountry DirectorSEND-GHANAA28 Regimanuel Estates, Nungua BarrierSakumono Accra, GhanaTel: +(233) 302 7160860Email: [email protected]
SEND-LIBERIAP.O.Box 1439Robert Field Highway, Schiefflin CommunityLower Magribi Country, LiberiaTel: +(231) 886 230 978Email:[email protected]
Website
www.sendwestafrica.org