Women in the poor communities of the Upper East Region are improving their livelihoods through the Ghana Productivity Safety Net Project (GPSNP) and are appealing to government to scale up the intervention to many more communities.
The project which has empowered poor rural women with financial resources and employment opportunities through labour-intensive works and income-generating ventures has led to improved incomes for the poor.
Under the project, rural communities undertake labour-intensive public works such as feeder roads and earth dam constructions.
Others with grants support engage in income-generating activities such as pastries, shea butter production and other petty trade.
Speaking to Citi News during a working visit by Deputy Local Government and Rural Development Minister, Collins Augustine Ntim, to assess the success of the intervention initiated in 2020, some beneficiaries said the program was a game-changer in reducing poverty.
One of the income generation venture beneficiaries in Tempane, Adamau Lucy, said, “The money and equipment given me by the Ghana productive Safety Net project will be put to judicious use in the shea butter production business. I will use part of the income accruing from the business to cater for my children’s education and the entire family.”
“Our community didn’t have a dam where we can do dry season farming and for our animals to drink, but through the project, we came out in our numbers to construct the earth dam where our animals drink from, and we now do dry season farming. From that, I am able to pay my children’s school fees and cater for my family,” Rukiaya Musah, a beneficiary of the earth dam in Garu said.
District Chief Executive for Tempane, Issaka Anabida, reiterated the assembly’s commitment to monitor all beneficiaries of the income-generating ventures to ensure they utilize the funds as intended or risk being removed from the project.
After inspection of projects under the intervention at Voutkom, Duure and Gagbiri in the Garu, Pusiga and Tempane districts, Collins Ntim, expressed satisfaction at the impact of Ghana Productivity Safety Net Project on the beneficiaries.
He also hinted that, government will soon adopt the public intensive works strategy to construct many feeder roads in rural communities, considering the quality of work done on the Gagbiri feeder road construction in Tempane.
However, the Gagbiri community members lamented how a dam constructed in the area has deprived them access to land for crop production and appealed to government to intervene.
Zelia Musah, said, they now rely on only petty trades to survive as the dam has subsumed most of their farmlands.
Mr. Ntim assured that, concerns about the projects will be urgently considered for redress.