A project aimed at empowering rural women and improving their livelihoods through alternative interventions has been launched at the Pelungu Community in the Nabdam District of the Upper East Region.
Dubbed, “Sustainable Project in Northern Ghana (SPRING Project),” the one-year project targeting Female Headed Households (FHH) at the Pelungu community has a goal of increasing household income and well-being of 50 Female-Headed Households (FHH) in the area through enterprise development and Agribusiness.
The project will facilitate and empower the beneficiaries to go into Shea and Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) processing.
As a result, the project had procured new Shea processing equipment to help reduce the laborious routine the women go through in processing shea butter.
Trax Program Support Ghana (Trax Ghana) is implementing the project with funding support from Tools for Self-Reliance, United Kingdom.
Speaking at the launch of the project at Pelungu, Mr Vincent Subbey, the Director of Trax Ghana, said the project would also organise a capacity building training programme on Shea and OFSP value chain and training on maintenance of Shea processing equipment.
“Capacity building on OFSP recipes and market opportunities, OFSP demonstration in two schools with School Feeding Programme, participation in Network meetings, capacity building on tree growing, organizational development, business development, life skills, strengthening and supporting Village Savings and Loans Associations, vine multiplication, distribution and cultivation and farmer exchange visits will also be part of the implementation strategies”, he stressed.
He stated that one of the key implementation strategies is to organise a stakeholder Conference in Bolgatanga, the regional capital, for the creation of networks and market linkages among the beneficiaries and other major stakeholders.
The Director said among the project outcomes were to ensure functional business group, well maintained shea processing equipment, quality and quantity production of Shea, access to market and fair trade, household consumption and sales of OFSP products, new and sustainable businesses and improved household income and wellbeing of the women and their families.
Trax Ghana, a non-profitable organisation, was established in 1989 and works with smallholder farmers to achieve food security and wealth creation.
Thematic areas of the NGO include Sustainable Land Management, alternative Livelihoods, youth Education, Commodity Enterprise development, Gender equality & Community Empowerment.
The organisation has over the years offered scholarships to a lot of deprived students and empowered the Kambusigo community in the Bongo District with green house project and also compost making project.
Pognab Akosua Nabil, the Queen mother of Pelungu, expressed happiness about the project intervention and hoped that the intervention would contribute to mitigating the women plight.
Mr Francia Datuogha, the Assemblyman for the Pelungu Electoral Area, thanked the NGO and the funding agency for the support and pledged that the District Assembly would complement the efforts of the implementing agency to ensure that the project makes a significant impact in the community.
