SOCODEVI has concluded its five-year Inclusive and Sustainable Model Cooperative Development Program (PROCED) following the establishment of the Bolgatanga, Bawku, and Navrongo (BBN) cooperative in the Upper East Region.
SOCODEVI, an international NGO that supports vulnerable women in the fields of agriculture, environment, and gender empowerment, with funding from Global Affairs Canada, has been active in the region for the past five years.
In collaboration with the Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana (YHFG), 42 women Farmer-Based Organizations with 1,258 women drawn from seven districts across the three operational zones in the region, are actively involved in rice parboiling to supply the rice processing mill in the Bongo district.
Gintte Carre, SOCODEVI’s Program Manager in Ghana for the PROCED project, noted in her presentation at the closing workshop of the project in Bolgatanga that the project, implemented in Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Senegal, aimed to improve the living conditions of members.
“The project is intended to improve the living conditions of member households of model cooperatives, particularly women in targeted regions of Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. To achieve this, we work on three levels: intermediate outcome 1100, intermediate outcome 1200, and intermediate outcome 1300,” she stated.
Raphael Asuure, Ghana’s Team Lead for the PROCED project, shared some of the progress the cooperative had made and outlined plans for the future, especially concerning the rice processing factory in the Bongo district. Mr. Asuure mentioned that all necessary measures are being put in place to ensure the smooth operation of the facility, considering the substantial investment made in the factory.
Regarding the future plans for the BBN Cooperative now that the project has concluded, Gilberta Akuka, President of the cooperative, stated, “We still have hope that we are going to stand on our feet because the PROCED project is not leaving us alone. Even though they are phasing out of the project, they have not abandoned us. They left us with machines and some money so that we could continue with our project.”
Madam Akuka also highlighted the challenge of finding a ready market for the cooperative’s products, stating that they are gradually overcoming this challenge by educating people about the benefits of consuming BBN rice.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|David Azure|Bolgatanga|
