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“Support women farmers in Northern Ghana to access fertile land”
The Upper West Regional Programme Manager of ActionAid, a non-governmental organization (NGO), Ms Terence Tienaah has called on traditional authorities and stakeholders to support women farmers in Northern Ghana to access fertile land for their vocation.
She said women farmers had limited access to land which according to her, limited their gains in agriculture hence the need for all to join hands to support women farmers to help boost agricultural production in this part of the country.
Ms Tienaah stated this on Wednesday at a stakeholders’ meeting at Wa on the Northern Ghana Integrated Development Project (NGIDP) by ActionAid, Ghana and funded by the European Union (EU).
The engagement meeting brought together various partners at the grassroots level of implementation in the region and sought to discuss sustainability plans as the project was exiting, focused on; “promoting opportunities for sustainable agriculture, social protection and decent work in the agrarian sector”
The NGIDP sought to facilitate the reduction of rural poverty by promoting environmentally-sustainable agricultural practices that would contribute to the nation’s green economy as well as create opportunities for income generation within the agricultural value chain, among other goals.
Ms Tienaah said to be able to sustain the agricultural sector for women farmers, it was vital that women were granted the right to adequate farm lands as was possible for their male counterpart.
“We are appealing again to reduce the practice where the woman would have to support her husband on his farm before going to theirs as it affected planting and harvesting period”, she said.
She said the project since its inception had trained 240 leaders of women farmer groups on advocacy and campaigns as well as organizational development and also conducted 120 community awareness sessions on women rights to access land and other productive resources in the region.
A beneficiary of the project, Madam Bogkur Patience, leader of the Lawra Te-nyogtaa women’s group said the project had helped them to adopt environmental friendly practices in their vocation.
She however added her voice to the call on Landlords and traditional authorities to make fertile lands available to women farmers in the various communities
She enumerated that difficulty in accessing fertile land and credit facilities were some of the challenges women in agriculture in the region were faced with.
FROM RAFIA ABDUL RAZAK, WA
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113 Cardinals hold 3rd General Congregation in Rome
The 113 Cardinals present in Rome held the third General Congregation on Thursday morning, and announced who will deliver the two pre-conclave meditations.
The Cardinals decided that Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández will celebrate the Mass on the sixth day of the Novemdiales, instead of Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
They agreed that Fr. Donato Ogliari, O.S.B., Abbot of St. Paul Outside the Walls, will deliver the first meditation on Monday, and that Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher Emeritus of the Papal Household, will deliver the second meditation at the beginning of the conclave, whose starting date has not yet been decided.
The Cardinals began a conversation about the Church and the world, deciding to hold the next General Congregation on Friday morning at 9:00 AM.
The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, told journalists that 61,000 people have paid their respects to the late Pope Francis as of 1:00 PM on Thursday, adding that St. Peter’s Basilica should close at midnight on Thursday, unless large crowds are still queuing to enter.
Following the Pope’s funeral on Saturday, April 26, a Rosary will be held in front of the Basilica of St. Mary Major on Saturday at 9:00 PM.
Mr. Bruni said the burial service for Pope Francis will take place in private.
Starting the morning of Sunday, April 27, the faithful may begin to visit the tomb of Pope Francis at the Marian Basilica.
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
