Over one thousand women from across Ghana on Monday converged at Amasaman in the Ga-West Municipal Assembly of Accra to voice their development needs to government and other partners.

Representatives of rural women participating in the national rural women’s rally raised issues concerning their non-involvement in policy formulation, challenges with land tenure and irrigation for farming as well as access to machinery to add value to produce.

The women also voiced the adverse effects of chemical application in farm land preparation on food crops and the pollution of water bodies through the activities of illegal mining.

Women’s Leader, Lydia Sasu told Luv Fm the involvement of women in all aspects of national socio-political and economic activities is crucial to sustainable development.

According to her, giving a voice to the rural woman is important because “women produce 70-80 percent of the food crops in Ghana in small-scale” and their empowerment will culminate in the much desired positive change.

The World Rural Women’s Day was instituted in 2008 to be commemorated a day ahead of World Food Day in recognition of the multiple role women play in local communities.

The national event was put together by the Development Action Association (DAA) and Farmers Organization Network in Ghana (FONG) in collaboration with UN Women, with the intent of allowing “rural women to speak for themselves”.

The day was celebrated under the theme “Empowerment and the role of rural women in poverty and hunger eradication”.

Madam Lydia is hopeful commitments made by interest groups at the rally to empower rural women will begin to yield positive fruits from 2013.

One of the event sponsors, Yara Ghana, noted that the development of the rural economy demands strategic linkages for rural women to deliver multiple dividends, including poverty reduction, increased food production and decreased child malnutrition.

Henry Otoo-Mensah, Retail Sales Manager of the leading mineral fertilizer distribution company, observed that rural women and girls face several constraints that limit their social and economic opportunities and consequently hinder poverty reduction and development.

He stated that one of Yara’s major objectives for doing business in Africa is to use its huge knowledge in fertilizer and food production to help reduce poverty in women and the more marginalized communities.

“As you know women bear a disproportionate share of the burden of being poor; they are obliged to spend a great deal of time not only working in family enterprises but also in nurturing and rearing children. Small-scale farmers in Ghana's poor rural areas especially women have very limited access to the assets, skills and improved technology that would facilitate a shift from subsistence farming to modern, commercial agriculture”, noted Mr. Otoo-Mensah.

According to him, Yara has committed itself to empowering the rural woman through the provision of crop production skills and the appropriate plant nutritional packages to enable the women realize higher yields in their farming activities.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh