EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Association has indeed become an umbrella for the women along the Value Chain which includes women aggregators of maize and Soya, women suppliers of day old Chicks, women who deal in poultry inputs such as fishmeal, concentrates, poultry drugs and poultry feed, the women poultry farmers, egg sellers and distributors of local Chicken, guinea fowl and chicken products and processors.
As part of its objectives for the year, the Association embarked on various projects such as International Womens Day(IWD), Leadership training in Dodowa and Techiman, Tamale Financial training, Greater Accra regional elections, World Egg Day and the Launching of Suhum Municipal Assembly chapter.
International Womens Day (IWD) is a global action that takes place yearly on the 8th of March with yearly themes of which this year’s theme dabbed “Gender Equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”.This celebrates all women and girls who are leading the change towards a more sustainable future, and climate change response efforts as well as the importance of challenging biases, misconceptions, stereotypes and discrimination in the interest of creating a more inclusive and gender-equal world.
The year’s Leadership training program for Women in Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC – Apex) was organized with the help of American Soyabean Association (ASA), World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) which sought to enhance participant’s knowledge and the Association’s capacity to effectively coordinate, monitor and contribute to the competitive market. It was a six days training program which took place in Dodowa and Techiman.
Also, the Association had an educational program on the importance of egg consumption and donated some eggs to various institutions, market places, schools and hospitals across the country to earmark this years World Egg Day Celebration.
Aside these, the Association with the support of GIZ – Agribiz also embarked on an Entrepreneurship Savings and Loan Schemes. The purpose of the ESLG is to provide simple loan facilities in a community that does not have easy access to formal financial services. This helps members save money from their earnings and also take monies from the savings as loans to help expand their business or access new markets.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
International Women’s Day takes place on March 8th every year to celebrate women’s rights and inspire people to act in the ongoing fight for gender equality. It celebrates women’s contributions to society, raises awareness about the fight for gender parity, and inspires support for organizations that help women globally. The theme for this year’s celebration is: “Gender Equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.” The theme celebrates girls and women who are leading the change towards a more sustainable future, and climate change response efforts. The campaign theme for 2022 is #Break the Bias, which highlights the importance of challenging biases, misconceptions, stereotypes and discrimination in the interest of creating a more inclusive and gender-equal world. The African Women in Agribusiness (AWIA) in collaboration with African Women in Animal Resource Farming and Agribusiness Network (AWARFA-N), Apex Body of Women in Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC – Apex Ghana), Ghana National Egg Campaign Secretariat (GNECS) and Agrihouse Foundation marked the day together with the global world.
The celebration included
- Donation of Eggs to Maternity and Antenatal patients at the Madina Polyclinic.
- Radio discussion on IWD
The celebration was climaxed on 8th March, 2022 in Accra at the forecourt of Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly (Obra Spot).The event was attended by representatives of Canadian High Commission, Department of Social Welfare, GIZ, Poultry and Livestock farmers and Egg sellers. The celebration aimed at sensitizing the public on the theme and recognizing the giant efforts of women in the Poultry Value Chain and the Country at large in improving nutrition and reducing poverty. It also exposed and encouraged the youth about the various opportunities along the poultry value chain that can be tapped for business opportunities.
Figure 1 : WIPVaC-Apex Ghana members at the celebration.
Donation to Maternity and Antenatal Patients
The Greater Accra Regional Chapter of WIPVaC-Apex Ghana made egg donations to the Maternity and Antenatal unit of the Madina Polyclinic. This was done towards sensitizing the women on the essence of egg consumption. Also, this was an avenue to demystify the public on the various myths associated with eating eggs.
The Deputy Nursing Officer of the Polyclinic, Mad. Ida Osei Kufuor, assured that they would put the eggs to good use and distribute it equitably. She touched on the nutritional benefits of eggs with regards to brain development in children and further urged the two groups to consider making periodic donations to the hospital.
Mrs Naana Adjei, a dietitian present advised that parents should wait till a child turns one year old to begin gradually introducing eggs into their diets due to the risk of developing allergies. Ndidi Fordjoe, the Project Coordinator with The Little Cow, the organization coordinating events leading to the launch of the Eggstra-O campaign, further reiterated the aim of the event saying “the purpose of the event is to let people know that egg is good for everyone and also to educate the women on how to include eggs in diets for both pregnant women and children”.
The Eggstra-O campaign by the American Soybean Association and World Initiative for Soy in Human Health will highlight women’s contribution in the poultry industry and encourage egg diets as beneficial, healthy, and a good way to address malnutrition in children.
Figure 2: Egg donation to Madina Polyclinic
Figure 3: Ndidi highlighting on the: Eggstra-O Campaign
LEADERSHIP TRAINING –DODOWA AND TECHIMAN
A six day leadership training was organized for Women in Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC-Apex) to equip them with the appropriate commercialization tools that will enhance commercialization
Organized by American Soybean Association (ASA) World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), the training seeks to enhance participant’s knowledge and the Association’s capacity to effectively coordinate, monitor and contribute to the competitive market.
The training brought together over 80 WIPVaC-Apex Executives from across the Northern and Southern zones of Ghana who were equipped with efficient and effective leadership and communication skills to ensure sustainable growth of business.
The Director of Animal Production at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Edwin Bekoe, said even though about 57% of rural women in Ghana engage in agriculture and agricultural value chain, they earn very low income because they are sometimes used as family laborers.
Mr. Bekoe added that bearing in mind the concerns on gender segregation and inequalities facing women in agriculture, the workshop would train the executives of WIPVaC-Apex to acquire leadership skills that would enable them to play their roles as leaders in the poultry value chain efficiently.
He urged all participants to be fully dedicated to the training while ensuring that they gain the requisite knowledge and skills that would help increase livestock production.
The National President of WIPVaC-Apex, Dr Victoria Norgbey, was grateful to the organizers of the training saying it would equip them to acquire leadership skills and also develop strategic plans that would guide them to sustain their businesses.
Dr. Norgbey noted that as the group is set to celebrate its fifth Anniversary this year, they are committed to working around the poultry value chain and advocate for better conditions for the poultry sector.
The facilitator for the training, Mad. Emelia Danquah, said they would help members of WIPVaC-Apex to draft good communication strategies that would enable them to interact better during business transactions.
She stressed that “since the poultry business has so many challenges, the training will prepare them with the skills to manage their businesses and the Association”.
At the end of the training, participants were awarded with Certificates for their successful completion of the workshop.
Figure 4: Group photograph of participants at Southern zone training
Figure 5: Group photograph of participants at Northern zone training
Figure 6: Awarding of Certificates by Trainer
NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON RISKS FOR SPILL OVER AT THE ANIMAL-HUMAN-WILDLIFE – ENVIRONMENT INTERFACE
A training workshop on the topic “Risk for spill over at the Animal-Human-Wildlife- Environment Interface” sponsored by Food and Agriculture Organisation was organised for members in the wild life sector namely live birds sellers, bush animal sellers, community animal health workers,public health workers( Labworkers etc), Veterinarian, Wildlife guards and Doctors in order to create awareness and also measures to eradicate spill overs. The Ashanti Regional Director of Agriculture present gave the welcome address and Assistant FAO representative to Ghana in the person of Ben Adjei also gave his remarks to grace the occasion. He highlighted on zoonotic diseases and its interface with the environment and human. He also talked about risk factors and how to mitigate it.
The objectives of the workshop included:
- Characterising those pathogens that spills from animals to human
- Understanding the human animal wildlife and environment interface
- Understanding and creating awareness , the risk of the spill over
- And to develop a road map for implementation of polices.
The risk factors for spill overs could be characterized into human induced risk factors, risk form wildlife and risk from environment.
Some of the risk factors involved includes;
- Movement
- Migration due to conflicts
- Settlements within the Protected Areas
- None inspection of bush meat by veterinarians
- Domestic animals invasion in the PA for watering and grazing
Diseases such as monkey pox disease and Covid -19 were discussed. These diseases pose high risks to human health and thus education should be carried out to eradicate the situation to prevent pandemics.
Risk of spill over at the human marine interface was also discussed. It was said that marine mammals are similar to humans, hence makes it easier for spill overs. Some of the zoonotic diseases from marine mammals are Brucellosis and Toxplasmosis and these diseases affect reproduction in human.
The Type A Avian Influenza was also talked about and this disease is mostly within the wild birds. The wild birds carry the Avian Influenza to local birds that are susceptible and spread the disease. It was also said that businesses collapsing as a result of this, has becomes a public health concern due to the mutation of the disease. For this reason there is a need to put in place good practices to overcome the transfer of Avian Influenza from wild birds.
An officer from Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) also gave a talk on food safety, and its risks. In his presentation he touched on antimicrobial resistance and advised on the moderation in the use of antibiotics or avoidance.
In conclusion we all agreed that ‘one health’ is key to animal production if we would make any progress in rearing for food are jobs.
Figure 7: Participant at the National Training workshop
OPERATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TRAINING IN TAMALE
The Apex Body of Women In Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC-Apex) in collaboration with American Soybean Association (ASA), World Initiative for Soy In Human Health (WISHH) organized an integrated financial management training for women along the poultry value chain in the Northern region of Ghana.
The Northern Regional Director of Agriculture, Hajia Hawa Musah has challenged WIPVaC to look at options of securing funds or grant to support soy and maize cultivation by members.
This, she explained, will greatly reduce the cost of feed production, which account for close to 70% of cost of production in the poultry industry.
Speaking at the opening of a three-day integrated financial management training organized by WIPVaC for its members in the northern sector of Ghana, a representative from the MoFA -Baba Musah who spoke on behalf of the Northern Regional Director, noted that MoFA field observations shows that women often do not derive much from interventions that do not target them directly or specifically, are therefore often excluded from projects and programmes interventions. She was however hopeful that Women in Poultry Value Chain will bridge the gap in women non-accessibility to services including financial support and financial management of enterprises. It is established that women contribute close to 70% of work force in the agriculture value chain, yet women are not rewarded or compensated equally for their efforts.
The Training
Hajia Hawa Musa observed that, continuous training is a step in the right direction as most associations have collapsed because leadership and members lost touch of the things that were relevant and could keep them as a formidable organization.
She further observed that the training will transform women enterprises in the poultry value chain and will empower actors economically and socially.
She mentioned that poultry keeping particularly by women will help reduce burden of trekking daily to run business, reduce stress and will provide adequate time to handle family and domestic issues particularly for those not in the public service and extra income for persons in government employment.
The Integrated Financial Training, with sponsorship from ASA/WISHH, is the fourth in series for WIPVaC-Apex Ghana members. This brings the total beneficiaries of the training to 100 women.
The National President of WIPVaC, Dr. Victoria Norgbey, reiterated that the training would harmonise the interest of women in poultry and serve as an advocacy mouthpiece for an enabling environment towards a sustainable poultry business thereby improving lives through the raising of poultry and poultry products.
WIPVaC-Apex Ghana’s strategic partnership with ASA/WISHH also forges win-win bonds between the women and U.S. soybean growers, “We are looking at a strong relationship with WISHH to exchange information and secure availability of American soy. Once we are able to get more soy readily available, then our members will be able to produce continuously.”
GIZ has supported the group through funding during exhibitions and capacity building of our women in strategic planning and Advocacy skills.
The recent flagship of our events is the establishment of Entrepreneurship Savings and Loans Groups (ESLG) in three GPP operational areas (Accra, Kumasi, Bono and Bono East). This is to inculcate savings habit in our women and help them mobilize resources and funds for their businesses. This again was funded by GPP and also in collaboration with Global Women Development Promoters (GLOWDEP) who are experts in ESLG.
Figure 8: Representatives at Tamale Financial Training
Figure 9: Participants at the Tamale Financial Training
GHANA CHICKEN FESTIVAL (GHACHICK)
Ghana Chicken festival organized by Agrihouse Foundation is designed to promote the consumption and patronage of local poultry products and also helps to create sustainable awareness on the nutritional value of poultry products amongst Ghanaians. This year’s edition took place on the 2nd of May, 2022 at the Coconut Grove Hotel, Accra where members of the Women in Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC-Apex Ghana) participated with sponsorship from GIZ-Agribiz to mount an exhibition.
There were activities such as CEO Chef Competition where participates challenged themselves in a cooking competition to showcase their culinary skills of which Dr Victoria Norgbey, presented WIPVaC and awards were given to participates. There was a panel discussions on the topic “The State of the Poultry Industry” and product exhibitions where people could patronize some poultry products.
There were fun games like Draught, Oware, Scrabble, Ludo and Monopoly and side attractions like cotton candy, face painting, and bouncy castles for the children.
Figure 10: Bettina Schoop (GIZ) presenting award to participant at GHACHICK Chef Competition
Figure 11: WIPVaC members participating in the CEO Chef Competition
Figure 12: GHACHICK panel discussion for CEO in poultry farming.
WORLD EGG DAY CELEBRATION
World Egg Day is celebrated annually to raise the awareness of the benefits of eggs and their importance in human nutrition as well as to demystify the myths and perceptions relating to egg consumption. The World Egg Day is celebrated globally on the second (2nd) Friday of October in every year.
The Ghana National Egg Campaign Secretariat (GNECS) in collaboration with Apex Body of Women in Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC-Apex Ghana) and with sponsorship from American Soybean Association /World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (ASA/WISHH) marked this year’s celebration under the theme “EGGS FOR A BETTER LIFE”.
Activities for the celebration included:
1. Education on the importance of egg consumption
2. Egg donations to various institutions, market places, schools and hospitals across the country.
The celebration was marked by the WIPVaC –Apex Ghana Regional Chapters within the country to create awareness and also publicise the Association to all interested individuals
Figure 13: World Egg Day at Ahafo Region
Figure 14: World Egg Day celebration at Greater Accra Region
Figure 15: World Egg Day celebration in Ashanti Region
Figure 16: World Egg Day celebration in North East Region
Figure 17: World Egg Day Celebration in Northern Region at the central lorry station, Tamale.
Figure 18: World Egg Day celebration in Upper East Region at Bolgatanga.
Figure 19: World Egg Day celebration in Upper West Region at an orphanage, Child Support Wa.
Figure 20: World Egg Day celebration in Volta Region, Ho.
Figure 21: World Egg Day celebration in Western Region at an Islamic school, Takoradi.
Figure 22: World Egg Day celebration in Bono Region at Dormaa Ahenkro.
WIPVaC-APEX GHANA ELECTIONS
WIPVaC – Apex body Constitution allows a four year term for two times for people elected into Leadership positions. The first term of the founding executives ended and a new election was conducted. The newly Elected National Executives are as follows;
National Executives
| POSITION | NAME |
| National President | Mad. Victoria Norgbey |
| Vice President | Comfort Afelik |
| National Secretary | Mavis N. Wobill |
| Assistant National Secretary | Pamela Agbotse |
| National Organizer | Patricia Dzesu |
| Assistant National Organizer | Georgina Mensah |
| Treasurer | Bernice Kumi |
| Financial Secretary | Zeinab Bode Imbeah |
| Ex officio member | The Late Madam Elizabeth |
Figure 23: Photograph of WIPVaC- Apex National Executives
Regional Elections
Central Region Executives
The Central region conducted elections on and elected the following executives;
| POSITION | NAME |
| President | Mavis Nketsiaba Wobil |
| Vice President | Pamela Asuman |
| Secretary | Evelyn Bartels |
| Assistant Secretary | Cynthia Arthur |
| Organizer | Emmanuella Segbefia |
| Assistant Organizer | Felicia Amissah |
| Treasurer | Theresa Kofour Darteh |
| Financial Secretary | Georgina Eshun |
| Acting Ex – officio | Vida Idan |
Greater Accra Regional Election
The election was held on 26th July, 2022 in Accra at the National Office Secretariat
The newly elected Executives are as follows;
| POSITION | NAME |
| President | Pamela Agbotse |
| Vice President | Florence Doku |
| Secretary | Yaa Aduba Asare |
| Assistant Secretary | Afriyie Obeng-Fosu |
| Organizer | Shine Amaglo |
| Assistant Organizer | Wilhelmina Etsibah |
| Treasurer | Patricia Dzesu |
| Financial Secretary | Margaret Ofori |
Volta Region Executives
The Volta region conducted elections on and elected the following executives
| EXECUTIVE NAME | POSITION |
| Helen Danku | President |
| Dzidudu Darkey Mensah | Vice President |
| Margaret Irene Saku | Secretary |
| Seraphina Seddoh | Assistant Secretary |
| Florence Konustey | Assistant Treasurer |
| Angela Henyo | Organiser |
| Makafui Nugbe | Assistant Organiser |
LAUNCHING OF ADDITIONAL WIPVaC-APEX GHANA REGIONAL CHAPTERS
Launch of Suhum Municipal Chapter –Eastern Region
The Apex Body of Women in Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC-Apex) in collaboration with Global Women Development Promoters (GLOWDEP) on 20th October, 2022 launched WIPVaC-Apex chapter in Suhum to help people in the poultry sector increase their production and businesses and also improve their livelihood.
In the event of the launch of WIPVaC-Apex Suhum Chapter, a Board member committee was inaugurated. The elected Executive are as follows:
| EXECUTIVE NAME | POSITION |
| Esther Nyarko | Coordinator |
| Mrs. Margaret Kwapong | Asst. Coordinator |
| Catherine Dzogbewu | Secretary |
| Philomena Wobil | Asst. Secretary |
| Cynthia Obeng | Financial Secretary |
| Christiana Osae Okyerewaa | Treasure |
| Gladys Agyeiwaa | Organizer |
| Mr. Samuel Ofori | Patron |
| Mr. Isaac Opare | Patron |
| Madam Augustina Ali | Patron |
Figure 24: Inauguration of the Suhum WIPVaC – Apex Chapter Executives
Launch of Goaso Municipal Chapter -Ahafo Region
The Apex body of Women in Poultry Value Chain, on Monday, 5th of December, 2022 launched a new chapter in Goaso, the capital of the Ahafo Region at the Big Astom Hotel. The Goaso chapter of WIPVaC-Apex Ghana was launched under the theme; “Breaking New Grounds to Revamp the Poultry Industry in Ghana – The Role of Value Chain Actors”.
The launch led to the inauguration of regional executives who were sown in and inducted into office by the chair for the ceremony. The Regional Executives are as follows;
| POSITION | NAME |
| President | Naomi Bonsu |
| Vice President | Ernestina Bofah |
| Secretary | Charity Ofori Agyemang |
| Assistant Secretary | Alizata Haruna |
| Organizer | Gladys Dei |
| Assistant Organizer | Theresa Sarkodie |
| Treasurer | Irene Osei |
| Financial Secretary | Beatrice Amoako |
| Men Representative | Kwame Adutwum |
Figure 25: Launch of the Goaso Municipal Chapter –Ahafo Region
TRAINING SERIES ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP SAVING AND LOAN GROUP (ESLG) IN 7 REGIONS
The project “Sustainable Employment through Agribusiness (Agribiz) in Ghana” is part of the BMZ core theme “Training and sustainable growth for good jobs”. The programme, which was approved by the German ministry BMZ in February 2021, takes into account the greater focus of the Ghanaian-German portfolio on employment effects. Therefore, the focus of Agribiz is on the promotion of micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) and Member-based Business Organizations (MMBOs).
The impact hypotheses is that strengthening of capacities of MSMEs and their associations in an inclusive approach will enable the private-sector to create productive employment in the agribusiness sector. The measures of the project are explicitly geared to strengthen the service provision and revenue generation as well as towards the advocacy work of MBBOs.
Access to finance continues to be one of the major challenges faced by MSMEs in an attempt to expand their businesses or develop new products, acquire machinery or access new markets. It is therefore important for MSMEs to explore innovative and sustainable financing systems for their business expansion activities.
The concept of Entrepreneurship Savings and Loans Groups (ESLGs) involves a group of people who meet on regular basis to save together and take small loans from those savings. The activities of such groups run in cycles of one year after which the accumulated savings and loan profits are distributed back to members. The purpose of the ESLG is to provide simple loan facilities in a community that does not have easy access to formal financial services. Many communities and Entrepreneurs come together in smaller groups to engage in ESLG activities with the aim to finance the expansion of their businesses or take care of other social issues.
WIPVaC-Apex Ghana is extending its operations to seven (7) new regions including Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Western, Central, Volta and Ahafo. In order to promote a strong group cohesion and improve members’ access to finance, the leadership of WIPVaC-Apex Ghana introduced the ESLG concept to its new members and other various actors along the poultry value chain in different regions of the country.
Hence GIZ Agribiz hired a Consultant to facilitate the ESLG training in the above mentioned 7 regions as part of its mechanism to promote MSMEs and MBBOs in the country.
ESLG is a self -managed project, hence the beneficiaries will be trained on all the 8 modules of ESLG as follows:
Module 1: Groups, Leadership and Elections
Module 2: Development of policies and rules for social fund, share-purchase and credit activities
Module 3: Development of Group’s Constitution
Module 4: Record-keeping and how to manage a share-purchase/savings meeting
Module 5: First share-purchase/savings meeting
Module 6: First loan disbursement meeting
Module 7: First loan repayment meeting
Module 8: Share-out/action-audit
Figure 26: ESLG training at Western Region, Takoradi
Figure 27: ESLG Training at Central Region, Cape Coast
Figure 28: ESLG Training at Volta Region, Ho
Figure 29: ESLG training in Northern Region, Tamale
Figure 30: ESLG training in Upper East Region, Bolgatanga.
Figure 31: ESLG training in Upper West Region, Wa.
38TH NATIONAL FARMERS DAY CELEBRATION
This year’s 38th National Farmer’s Day Celebration was held in the Eastern region on the 2nd of December 2022.
The event which was under the theme “Accelerating Agricultural Development Through Value Addition” was part of the activities to honor farmers across the country for working hard in ensuring the supply of food to citizens.
National Farmers Day 2022 began on 29th November with an Agricultural fair, exhibition and Regional focus days and climaxed with a Grand durbar and award ceremony on Friday, 2nd December 2022
At the District level, WIPVaC-Apex Ghana members received award for various categories including:
| No | Name | Category | District |
| 1. | Dr. Victoria Norgbey | Best Poultry Farmer | Adentan |
| 2. | Grace Aryee | Best Woman Farmer | Anyaa Sowutuom |
| 3. | Margaret Ofori | Best Poultry Farmer | Madina |
Figure 32: Margaret Ofori receiving award
Figure 33: Grace Aryee receiving award
Figure 34: Dr. Victoria Norgbey receiving award.
END OF YEAR GENERAL MEETING
The year was climaxed with an end of year “Bring and Share” general meeting on the year’s activities under review. Members were congratulated on their hard work and efforts contributed towards making the year’s activities a success. The meeting took place at the WIPVaC -Apex Office at Ashaley Botwe on December 13th. Further discussions on activities for the subsequent year made to end the year successfully.
Figure 35: WIPVaC-Apex members at end of year “Bring and Share” general meeting
ONE WEEK CELEBRATION FOR MADAM ELIZABETH NKRUMAH
Madam Elizabeth was an active member of WIPVaC Apex. She was the National Organizer and the President of the Egg Sellers Association of Ghana (ESSAG). In 2021, due to her inability to take up active roles owing to her old age she was made the Ex – officio member to the Association. A role she played well throughout this year until her death in December.
WIPVaC – Apex Ghana members were present during her one – week celebration on 14th December, 2022 to extend their condolence and solidarity to the bereaved family.
Figure 36: WIPVaC – Apex members at Mad. Elizabeth’s one week celebration.