Smallholder rural women farmers access $180,000 credit

Bright Generation Community Foundation, an NGO, has extended its microcredit activities to 185 women in the Sene District of the Brong Ahafo Region, as part of its commitment to empower small holder farmers and women entrepreneurs in the rural Ghana.

Beneficiaries are offered training in employable skills, business management and record keeping as well as promotion of food crops production and agro processing, and the promotion of environmental sanitation.

The Foundation’s micro credit programme which began in 2010, has so far reached more than 500 smallholder rural women farmers, with cumulative financing of nearly $180,000 which has directly enhanced their wages, standard of living and expansion of their farming activities.

The programme provides affordable savings services and loans with flexible repayment terms. To access the loans, the women form groups based on solidarity principle, thus obviating the need for individual collateral to access the support.

Executive Director of the Foundation, Bernice Dapaah observed that efforts to reduce poverty could be successful if women are empowered to enable them to contribute meaningfully to national development.

According to her, the Foundation recognizes the uphill battle women farmers face and strives to reduce the disparity by empowering them with microcredit and market access to avoid post-harvest losses.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh