14/07/2025
Empowered Voices, Thriving Futures: How IFAD is Transforming the Lives of Rural Women in Ghana
In the heart of Ghana’s rural economy, women have long toiled—unseen, unheard, and undervalued. But today, a quiet revolution is taking root, fueled by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) through the transformative Rural Enterprises Programme (REP). With its deep commitment to equity, inclusion, and sustainable livelihoods, IFAD is not just funding economic growth—it's enabling a generation of women to rise, speak, and lead.
A New Dawn for Women’s Voice
For decades, many rural Ghanaian women were excluded from public decision-making, confined by cultural expectations that left them on the margins. REP has shattered this silence. With leadership training, the formation of Local Business Associations (LBAs), and increased mobility support, over 93% of women now participate in community meetings. In regions like Oti and Savannah, 100% of women reported full participation in decision-making structures—a remarkable testament to the Programme’s impact.
A woman from Bibiani, once hesitant to speak at community meetings, now leads local advocacy for market infrastructure. “Before REP, I didn’t have the courage to speak. Now, I’ve helped lobby for a new market and my opinions matter,” she shared in a focus group discussion.
These shifts are not isolated. In Asante Mampong, REP-supported women organized a trade fair that is now an annual fixture, showcasing how voice can ripple into community transformation.
The Power of Agency: Women as Economic Leaders
Agency is more than empowerment—it is ownership. It is the ability to make choices and act on them. Across Ghana, REP has enabled women to become business owners, asset managers, and community leaders.
Take Lucy Baah Okwan from Kukuoum village in the Akuapim North municipality of the Eastern Region. With REP’s business training, supplier linkages, financial support and mentorship, the single mother of one who began with a micro gari business alongside her aged mother has now expanded her business. Today she is leader among the gari producers in her community and regarded as a mentor. With her financial empowerment, she has gone on to adopt the two children of a vulnerable women in her community.
In Kwahu Municipal, one REP-supported woman scaled her oil palm enterprise to manage 40 acres and multiple milling centres, assuming full control of her family’s economic decisions—a powerful disruption of traditional gender norms.
These stories are not anomalies. Across the country, women now independently manage poultry farms, run cassava processing businesses, and co-own assets such as land and livestock. In Northern Ghana, 68% of women make joint household decisions—proof that agency is not just growing, but thriving.
Sharing the Load: Towards Equitable Workload
Despite economic progress, many women still face a double burden—balancing business and household responsibilities. REP is addressing this by promoting labour-saving technologies, like cassava graters and improved dryers, enabling women to redirect their time toward income-generating work.
In regions like Oti and Northern Ghana, every surveyed woman reported an improved workload balance. One woman from Agona Nkwanta described the change: “Before REP, I worked from dawn till night. Now my husband helps, and I can grow my business.”
However, challenges remain in regions like Ahafo and Western North, where sociocultural expectations continue to saddle women with the majority of domestic duties. These disparities underscore the need for targeted interventions that address not just tools, but mindsets.
From Margins to Mainstage: Recognition and Leadership
REP’s most powerful impact may lie in the recognition it has brought to rural women’s contributions. In Asuogyaman District, Madam Christiana Srakobea, a soap making client of REP has been made a queen mother in her traditional area thanks to her social economic empowerment received through REP. She attribute this to the business she established through REP support and the exposure received through the numerous local and international trade fairs and exhibitions she has attended through REP. Christie leads advocacy for women’s economic rights not just in her traditional area but the entire District — an embodiment of what’s possible when support meets ambition.
A Programme Backed by Evidence
These remarkable outcomes are not anecdotal—they are the findings of a comprehensive national assessment conducted by Radix Consult (2024) and commissioned by REP. Drawing on surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions across 40 districts, the study validated REP’s substantial contributions to three dimensions of women’s empowerment: Voice, Agency, and Equitable Workload.
“Once a woman is economically empowered, there is a lot that you can achieve with her,” said Dora Adomako, BAC Head for Ahanta West District and a key informant in the study. That sentiment echoes through every testimony and every district touched by REP.
Conclusion: A Blueprint for Global Impact
The story of women in Ghana’s rural enterprise sector is no longer one of silent struggle. It is a story of strength, voice, and leadership—made possible by intentional, well-resourced interventions.
Through the Rural Enterprises Programme, IFAD is not only enabling women to generate income but helping them claim their space in households, communities, and governance. These are the blueprints for resilience and equality that global development must replicate.
In the villages of Ghana, women are no longer waiting for change. They are making it—one voice, one decision, one enterprise at a time.
