Six women’s groups get tricycles for business
Six women’s groups in the Kassena-Nankana West District in the Upper East Region who are into the processing of baobab, shea nut, moringa and sesame have been supported with motor tricycles to help boost their business activities.
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The Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) donated the items, facilitated by the Organisation for Indigenous Initiatives and Sustainability (ORGIIS), an NGO working on women economic empowerment.
Presenting the tricycles to the women at Paga after receiving them from the NRGP, the Coordinator of ORGIIS, Mr Julius Awaregya, urged the women to use the tricycles for their intended purposes.
He said ORGIIS made the appeal to the NRGP on behalf of the women because of the difficulties and stress they often went through in the processing of the products, especially travelling to far distances in search of water, picking of the raw materials and fuel wood for the processing of the products.
Supporting women
Mr Awaregya said his outfit had supported the women over the years in their activities by linking them to local and international markets and also facilitating training courses to build their capacities and add value to the processing of the products.
“ORGIIS is working with 12 women groups with about 25 women in each group and all these women are into productive ventures as we support them together with our partners such as NRGP and IFAD. The women are supported to pick the shea nuts, the baobab and sesame fruits and given storage facilities and support to process the raw material at a processing centre where equipment is mounted. As a result, the final products such as the shea butter and baobab oil meet international standards and attract high demand,” he said.
The Field Officer of ORGIIS, Mr Adagnera Amoah Clifford, said as part of measures to help the government create employment, the NGO was working with 15,000 women in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions through the exploitation of indigenous economic trees.
Empowerment
Mr Adagnera said the NGO had also empowered the women groups to form Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLAs) Schemes where the women make contributions and acquire loans from the scheme to expand their economic activities.
Mrs Matilda Adadoechia, one of the group leaders who expressed gratitude to the NRGP and the NGO, said the intervention would empower them the more to expand their businesses to enable them to cater for their families, particularly their children.
“Already majority of us have benefited enormously from the ORGIIS interventions and are able to take good care of our families, especially our children’s education and health. This additional intervention will better improve our welfare,” Mrs Adadoechia said.
The Assistant Budget Officer of the Kassena-Nankana West District, Mr Zakaria Abdul-Rahim, who stood in for the outgoing District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr George Nontreh, lauded the NGO for complementing the government’s efforts at job creation for the groups.
