Women land ownership in Ghana increases to 49.6% in some regions – Oxfam

Land ownership and control by women has increased from 25.8 per cent to 49.6 per cent at the end of Oxfam and Global Affairs Canada’s five-year “WEACT” Project in four regions across the country.

The WEACT (Women’s Economic Advancement for Collective Transformation) project, aimed at addressing the gender-specific barriers for women working in agriculture and in the informal economy of the shea and cocoa sectors in the Upper West, Upper East, Northern and Western Regions, Mr Mohammed Anwar Sadat Adam, the Country Director, Oxfam in Ghana, said at the close of the project in Accra.

It was on the theme: “Sustaining Women’s Economic Empowerment for Inclusive Growth”.

He said the project had also indicated progress in securing land tenure rights with growing support from men and traditional leaders, who had become more open to the idea of women acquiring land.

The more than 30,000 beneficiaries of the project including men were also enlightened on women’s rights, family law, inheritance law, and children’s rights.

Other cases addressed were helping to return lands to widows, securing child support, stopping eight child marriages, increasing legal knowledge for beneficiaries to claim their rights and referring cases of gender-based violence to law enforcement agencies, the Country Director noted.

More than 540 couples enrolled into the project’s Gender Model Family, he said had reported recognition, redistribution, and reduction in unpaid care work at the household level.

“It has reduced for women – 20.23 hours per week, as against 46.88 hours per week at baseline. It has also increased for men: 18.21 hours per week as against 14.36 hours per week at baseline. For a girl child, a significant free time of 29.6 hours/week is now available for them to use for studies thereby improving academic performance as compared to the baseline,” he explained.

Mr Adam said an evaluation report showed a strong commitment among men and women, as well as boys and girls, to equally sharing household chores.

 A significant majority of men (96 per cent) and women (98 per cent) believed that household responsibilities should be shared equally, reflecting a notable improvement from the midterm values (men: 39 per cent, women: 55 per cent) and baseline values (men: 27.2 per cent, women: 21 per cent).

Similarly, he said nearly equal proportions of boys (95 per cent) and girls (96 per cent) supported the view, suggesting that younger generations were being socialized into more equitable gender roles, which might lead to long-term behavioral change.

The WEACT project also recorded an increase in productivity and profit margins for the women, he said, adding: “For example, some of the Cooperatives are now able to save at least GH¢2000.00 per annum.”

Ms Vera Karikari, Deputy Director of the Gender Department, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, said the project had not only broken barriers to women’s advancement but created opportunities for families to pave way for women especially at the grassroots to realise their full potential.

The Ministry, she said was elated to witness the successful implementation of the project, adding that such initiatives were a true reflection of a shared vision of a society where women and men were seen as partners for transformation.

“The project is very laudable because it has also created a bridge for a more economically inclusive future for women at the grassroots,” she added.

Madam Paulina Addy, the Director of Women in Agriculture, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, commended the Canadian government for budgetary support and strategic direction for the project and Oxfam Ghana for its successful implementation.

The agricultural sector, she said was the engine of growth and focusing on women meant the project had really “acted”.

She pledged the Ministry’s continuous support and called for strengthened data systems where the work of women at the macro and micro levels were captured to record their overall contribution in the agricultural value-chain.

Ms Patience Appiah, a District Assembly Representative, said the project had improved the women’s understanding of their legal rights and the need for couples to share household chores for both parties to get time to attend to other matters of importance.

Speaking on some of the benefits attained from the project, she said beneficiaries were given business negotiation skills, start-up kits, and financial assistance among others to thrive.

“There is peace and harmony in their homes now. The women also now know the essence of supporting their husbands physically, financially and emotionally.

“It has also increased awareness and advocacy as at first women didn’t know they could own a land. All we knew was a woman should go and work on her husband’s land and that means all the finances and other benefits go to the husbands,” she said.

She appealed to Global Affairs Canada and Oxfam in Ghana to extend the project to other remote areas in its review to touch more lives.

Source: GNA

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