The Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) and IFAD donated the items, facilitated by the Organization for Indigenous Initiatives and Sustainability (ORGIIS), an NGO working on women economic empowerment.

Presenting the motor tricycles to the women at Paga on Wednesday after taking delivery of them from the NRGP, Mr Julius Awaregya, the Coordinator of ORGIIS, cautioned the women to use the motor tricycles for their intended purposes.

He said ORGIIS made the appeal to the NRGP on behalf of the women for support because of the difficulties and stress the women often went through in the processing of the products especially travelling to far distances in search of water, picking of the raw materials and fuel wood for the processing of the products.

Mr Awaregya said his outfit had supported the women over the years in their activities by linking them to both local and the international market and also facilitating training courses to build their capacities and add value to the processing of the products.

“ORGIIS is working with twelve women groups with about twenty five women in each group and all these women are into productive ventures as we support them together with our partners such as NRGP and IFAD.  The women are supported to pick the shea nuts, the baobab and sesame fruits and given storage facilities and support to process the raw material at a processing centre where equipment are mounted. As a result the final products like the shea butter and baobab oil, among others meet the   international standards and attract high demand,” he said.

Mr Adagnera Amoah Clifford, the Field Officer of ORGIIS,  said as part of measures to  help government create employment,  the NGO was working with 15,000  women in the  Northern, Upper East and Upper West  Regions through the exploitation of the indigenous economic trees.

Mr Adagnera said the NGO had also empowered the women groups to form Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLAs) Schemes where the women make contributions and acquire loans from the Scheme to expand their economic activities.

Mrs Matilda Adadoechia, one of the women group leaders  who expressed gratitude to the  NRGP and the NGO, said the intervention would  empower them the more to expand their businesses to enable them cater for their families particularly their children.

 “Already majority of us have benefited enormously from the ORGIIS interventions and are able to take good care of our families especially our children’s education and health. This additional intervention will help improve more upon our welfare,”  Mrs Adadoechia  said.

Mr Zakaria Abdul-Rahim, Assistant Budget Officer of the Kassena-Nankana West District who stood in for the outgoing District Chief Executive, Mr George Nontreh, lauded the NGO for complementing the government’s efforts at job creation for the women groups.