Women poultry dealers undergo financial management training
The Director, Animal Production Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Mr Edwin Bekoe, has urged women in business to engage in periodic training to build their capacity, especially in financial management.
He said this would enable them to maintain proper bookkeeping and good records of financial transactions.
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He gave the advice when he addressed some members of Women in Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC) at a three-day integrated financial management training in Accra.
He noted women continued to play an essential role in the poultry value chain as producers, processors, input dealers, and marketers and, therefore, their role could not be overlooked.
Mr Bekoe said the volumes of import of poultry and other poultry products had taken a toll on the economy, and that the roll out of the Rearing for Food and Jobs programme by government in 2019 was meant to reverse it.
He, therefore, urged participants to take advantage of the training and share the knowledge acquired with other trading partners.
Interest of women
The National President of WIPVaC, Mrs Victoria Norgbey, said the training would harmonise the interest of women in poultry and serve as an advocacy mouthpiece for an enabling environment towards a sustainable poultry business.
A representative of the World Poultry Foundation (WPF), Mr Daniel Anang, stressed the training would help to improve lives through the raising of poultry and poultry products.
“The training will help the women to expand their business by taking them to the next level and that is what we at WPF want to see,” he said.
A participant, Ms Dzidudu Darkey Mensah, who is also the Chief Executive of DPD Farms, expressed optimism that the training would help the women to right the wrongs of their past.
“The training will help women to keep proper track of records and develop competitive business proposals that will help to grow our businesses,” she noted.
The training
The WIPVaC organised the training to equip its members with financial literacy in order to improve their businesses and to develop business plans to solicit further support to expand their trade.
WIPVaC comprises of aggregators of maize, soya, suppliers of day-old chicks, and dealers in poultry inputs such as fish meal, concentrates, poultry drugs, feed, farmers, egg sellers, guinea fowl, chicken products and live bird sellers and processors working collectively to support the food nutrition and security of the citizenry.
The training brought together over 60 women from across the Greater Accra Region who were equipped with efficient and effective management skills to ensure sustainable growth of business.
Topics such as understanding the accounting procedure, differentiating profit from sales, managing cash flow, among others, were treated at the programme.
The facilitator of the training, Ms Roz Sandaham, explained in an interview that financial training could also help the women to prioritise expenditures.
“In small businesses, conserving financial resources is a must. A well thought out financial plan can help them to prioritise what areas need to be funded immediately, and where their expenses can wait, thereby managing cost,” she noted.