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E-book Involving Women and Youth in Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems in Ghana
Between 2015 and 2017, FAO organized a series of multistakeholder workshops on Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (RAI) in Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal and Tanzania as part of the Inter-agency Working Group (IAWG) programme on principles guiding new investment in agriculture. In Ghana, workshop participants identified gender and youth issues as particularly relevant to their needs and interests in relation to RAI. Based on these findings, in 2018– 2019, FAO supported an initiative on the involvement of women and youth in responsible investment in agriculture and food systems in Ghana. Women and youth-led agro-enterprises (WYE), which may also be operating as family businesses, in agricultural value chains have been identified as catalysts for rural transformation, given their potential for creating employment and stimulating value addition both on and off farm. Given that agriculture and food systems are likely to remain the key generators of employment in Ghana over the coming decades, and that 80 percent of all activities in the midstream of food value chain are undertaken by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Africa, the strategic link to the empowerment of women and youth-led agribusinesses in Ghana is clear (AGRA, 2019). However, knowledge on such businesses in Ghana, especially those led by women and youth beyond primary agriculture, appears to be limited. This exploratory study represents a first step towards generating evidence to support the argument that family, women and youth-led agribusinesses have a key role to play in the rural transformation under way in Ghana. The survey uncovered practical insights from 26 WYEs operating in rural, peri-urban and urban areas. The 26 participating WYEs operated in diverse value chains across four main subsectors: horticulture (3), food crops (4), fish (8) and livestock and poultry (11). It is anticipated that the findings from this study will be used as inputs for the development of an agenda on this topic by RAF.
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