Tamale, April 11, – ActionAid Ghana has raised concerns over gender disparities in the government’s Feed Ghana Programme, calling for reforms to make it more inclusive and responsive to smallholder women farmers.
Ms Eugenia Ayishetu Ayagiba, Women’s Rights and Advocacy Manager at ActionAid Ghana, said although the programme acknowledged gender issues, many provisions failed to reflect the realities faced by women farmers.
“We are looking at how the policy affects our beneficiary smallholder women farmers and whether it is truly inclusive and transformative,” she said.
She made the remarks during a post-harvest conference organised by ActionAid Ghana, which provided a platform for women farmers to assess the previous farming season and engage policymakers on improving agricultural interventions.
The conference also served as an accountability forum, enabling participants to share experiences and contribute to policy discussions ahead of the next farming season.
Ms Ayagiba identified access to land as a major constraint, noting that patriarchal land ownership systems in many communities limited women’s ability to engage in sustainable farming.
She also highlighted challenges with access to mechanisation, explaining that many women farmers could not afford tractor services, while operational guidelines for mechanisation centres remained unclear.
“Access is largely based on who can pay, and we know these women have limited financial capacity. So how do they benefit from such interventions?” she questioned.
She further noted that crops prioritised under the programme did not fully align with the production patterns of smallholder women farmers, who typically cultivate vegetables and small plots of staple crops.
Despite the concerns, Ms Ayagiba described the programme as a positive step, saying it demonstrated government’s recognition of gender issues in agriculture.
“We are not saying the programme has failed. It is gender-aware, but we want it to move towards being more responsive and ultimately transformational with clear budget allocations that can be tracked,” she said.
Professor Joseph Abazaami, a Research Consultant at the University for Development Studies, supported the concerns, noting that women remained central to Ghana’s agricultural sector and must be fully integrated into policy frameworks.
He said the study examined key issues such as access to land, credit, mechanisation, and unpaid care work, which continued to affect women’s participation.
“Our findings show that the policy has moved from gender-blind to gender-aware and partially responsive. However, there is the need for it to become gender-transformational for greater impact,” he said.
Ms Esther Nyamekye Opoku, Programmes Director at CORD Ghana, also stressed that women’s contributions, including indigenous knowledge and agro-ecological practices, were not adequately recognised.
She called for greater promotion of sustainable farming practices such as composting, biochar production, and agroforestry to enhance climate resilience.
GHBUSS
11 April 2026
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