The Women’s Rights and Advocacy Manager at ActionAid Ghana, Ms Eugenia Ayishetu Ayagiba, has raised concerns over gender gaps and issues of inclusivity in the government’s Feed Ghana Programme.
She underscored the need for reforms to make it more inclusive and responsive to the needs of smallholder women farmers.
She said, “We are looking at how the policy affects our beneficiary smallholder women farmers and whether it is truly inclusive and transformative.”
Ms Ayagiba made the call during a post-harvest conference organised by ActionAid Ghana to provide a platform for smallholder women farmers to assess the previous farming season and engage policymakers on the implementation of the programme.
The conference also served as an accountability mechanism for women farmers to share their experiences and challenges while contributing to discussions on improving agricultural policies ahead of the next farming season.
Ms Ayagiba said that although the programme acknowledged gender issues, many of its provisions did not adequately address the realities of smallholder women farmers.
She said, “We realise that even though gender is mentioned, inclusivity appears to follow a status quo, and many of our beneficiaries may not be able to access the services outlined in the policy.”
She identified access to land as a major constraint, explaining that in many communities, land ownership remained largely patriarchal, limiting women’s ability to do sustainable farming.
Ms Ayagiba also raised concerns about access to mechanisation and said many women farmers could not afford tractor services while operational guidelines for mechanisation centres were unclear.
She said, “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 said crops prioritised under the programme did not fully reflect the production patterns of smallholder women farmers, who often cultivated vegetables and small plots of staple crops.
Ms Ayagiba described the Feed Ghana Programme as a step in the right direction, in spite of the challenges and said it demonstrated the government’s awareness of gender issues in agriculture.
She said, “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.”
A Research Consultant at the University for Development Studies, Professor Joseph Abazaami, made a presentation on research findings dubbed: “Gendered Analysis of the Feed Ghana Programme (2025 – 2028): Interrogating Inclusivity and Resilience Considerations for Smallholder Women in AAG’s Catchment Farmers“.
The study supported the gender analysis and said women were key factors in Ghana’s agricultural sector and must be fully integrated into policy frameworks.
He said the study examined critical issues such as access to land, credit, mechanisation, and unpaid care work, which continued to affect women’s participation in agriculture.
He said, “Our findings show that the policy has moved from gender-blind to gender-aware and partially responsive. However, there is a need for it to become gender-transformational for greater impact.”
Programmes Director at CORD Ghana, Ms Esther Nyamekye Opoku, expressed concern that women’s contributions to agriculture, including indigenous knowledge and agro-ecological practices, were not adequately recognised under the programme.
She emphasised the need to promote sustainable practices such as composting, biochar production, and agroforestry as part of efforts to build climate resilience.
