The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Eric Opoku, has bemoaned the continuous suppression of the full potential of women in the agrifood systems, despite being the backbone of agriculture on the continent.
He noted that despite constituting nearly half of the agricultural labour force and playing vital roles in production, processing, trading and household nutrition, and women still face persistent inequalities that undermine productivity and weaken food systems.
He was speaking in a speech read on his behalf by the National Coordinator of the Feed Ghana Programme, Mr Bright Demordzi at the opening of a two-day sub-regional awareness-raising workshop held in Accra, yesterday.
The workshop was to promote the uptake of the Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women's and Girls' Empowerment.
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The Minister said closing the gender gap was not only a moral obligation but one of the most powerful drivers of agricultural growth, citing global evidence that productivity could increase by up to 30 per cent if women had equal access to productive resources.
"However, inequalities in access to land, finance, technology, markets, extension services, training and leadership opportunities continue to limit women's contributions and negatively affect household welfare and national development," Mr Opoku highlighted.
Addressing these gaps, he explained, requires intentional policy action and coordinated regional effort.
Organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the workshop has brought together government actors, civil society, academia, researchers and private sector partners from four West African countries to deepen understanding of the Guidelines and explore how they can be adapted to national and regional priorities.
The Guidelines offer countries a policy roadmap for reshaping agrifood institutions, investments and programmes to better reflect the needs and priorities of women and girls.
Ms Alejandra Safa Barraza, Forum Officer at FAO Headquarters, said the meeting aimed at equipping participants with the knowledge required to promote the uptake of the Guidelines within their respective countries.
She highlighted that although women dominate food systems across sub-Saharan Africa, from farming to market operations, many still lack access to financial resources, technology, credit and control over productive assets.
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