Madam Ivy Bedy, Project Officer of GLOWA said interventions aimed at improving agriculture should be extended to rural communities especially women to help them increase productivity and promote sustainable practices to curb poverty.

She said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after a community engagement at Takla Gbogame, Tokor, and Sokode-Ando in the Ho Municipality and Adaklu-Tsrefe, Adaklu-Gblefe and Adaklu-Goefe in the Adaklu District, all in the Volta Region.

The engagement, she said formed part of the Organisation’s Action for Voice and Inclusive Development (AVID) project to empower rural women and persons with disabilities to take positive actions to participate actively in local governance processes for improved livelihood.

Madam Bedy disclosed that GLOWA would be liaising with the Women in Agriculture Department (WIAD) of Ministry of Food and Agriculture to provide technical backstopping for small holder women farmers within the project beneficiary communities on best farming practices to increase their yields and income level for the women.

Miss Rosemond Ewoenam Atutonu, Executive Director of GLOWA, also told GNA the NGO was collaborating with the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA) and relevant authorities in charge of the Planting for Food and Jobs to link the beneficiaries to available markets where they could easily sell their produce.

She appealed to traditional authorities in the project beneficiary communities to own the project, give adequate support to the women and make land available to them.

Mr Foster Avenyo, Adaklu District Budget Analyst, speaking to GNA appealed to residents in the district to pay their taxes to support the Assembly to undertake development activities.

Madam Elikplim Klu, President, Volta Chapter of the Ghana Federation of Disability (GFD), took the participants through procedures for accessing the Disability Common Fund.

She disclosed to GNA that most of the persons with disabilities did not know the procedures for accessing the fund and some also were not aware of the existence of the fund and thus making it difficult for them to access the fund.

Madam Susan Termley Akortia, Officer in charge of Social Welfare and Community Development at the Adaklu District said her outfit was taking necessary measures to ensure that persons with disabilities received the needed support.

She urged women to be interested in governance issues of the country and charged them to make themselves available to represent their people in the forthcoming Assemblies Elections.

Togbe Sasraku IV, Chief of Adaklu-Goefe commended GLOWA for its efforts at improving the lives of women and persons with disabilities in rural communities and pledged to give the necessary support to the GLOWA-AVID project to ensure its success.

The project dubbed, “We Matter” is a 15-month project and is being jointly implemented by GLOWA in partnership with Ghana Federation of Disability (GFD), Volta Chapter and Adaklu POWER Women’s Group.

The project is being funded by William and Flora Hewlett Foundation through STAR Ghana Foundation under the Action for Voice, Influence and Inclusive Development (AVID) Small Grant.