Policy Women and Smallholder Brief Ghana › phocadownload › Women and...improved sustainable natural resource management; land tenure and food security particularly for women smallholder

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


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


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



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



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.



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



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



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


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.


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]

[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

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Policy Women and Smallholder Brief Ghana › phocadownload › Women and...improved sustainable natural resource management; land tenure and food security particularly for women smallholder