UNDP hands over solar-mechanised garden to women in Yipala

One hundred women household heads in the Yipala community of the West Gonja Municipality in the Savannah Region have received a three-acre solar-mechanised dry season garden to enhance food production and improve livelihoods.

The facility, funded by Denmark and Luxembourg, was handed over by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Movement of Rural Entrepreneurial Women (MORE-Women). It will provide irrigated farmland and clean water, enabling year-round farming for beneficiaries.

At the ceremony yesterday, Ms Jennifer Asuako, UNDP Programme Analyst for Gender and Human Rights, highlighted the critical role women play in supporting households and communities despite barriers such as limited access to land, finance, and technology.

She said the solar-mechanised system was designed to ensure reliable income opportunities for women through all-season farming. Beyond Yipala, a similar facility has also been established in Suke in the Lambussie District of the Upper West Region to boost agricultural productivity and strengthen value chains.

According to her, the initiative forms part of a broader UNDP project implemented with partners, including the Savannah Regional Peace Council and MORE-Women.

The programme promotes inclusive governance, community-led peace-building, and economic empowerment, while addressing conflict drivers in northern Ghana by advancing gender equality, socio-economic opportunities, and women’s participation in peace and decision-making.

She added that such interventions also reduce the risks of radicalisation and violent extremism in the subregion.

Mr Sixtus Akanzige Nsoh, Programme Manager of MORE-Women, speaking on behalf of the Executive Director, said the project, Boosting Women’s Economic Resilience and Inclusion in Decision-Making and Peacebuilding in Ghana, has been running in Yipala for the past six months and is already yielding results.

He listed some achievements, including fenced farmland, boreholes, improved seeds and inputs for 100 women farmers; training in financial literacy and entrepreneurship; access to credit facilities through Vision Fund and Kintampo Rural Bank; and the creation of two Village Savings and Loans Associations with $1,000 seed capital.

Mr Nsoh also revealed that a Women’s Peace Dialogue Platform has been established, facilitating structured dialogue between farmers and Fulani herders, while many women are already applying climate-smart farming techniques introduced by the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet).

Representing the Chief of Yipala, Mr Ali Suleimana commended UNDP and MORE-Women for the intervention.

He said the project would help women provide for their families during the dry season, while the water facility would also relieve children of the burden of walking long distances for water during school hours.