Enhancing rural economies: women in groundnut marketing in the Bolgatanga area

Abstract

Incomes for rural women are generally low and continue to dwindle. For women living in rural Northern Ghana, a major source of income and therefore economic sustenance is groundnut production. The empirical findings of this study conducted in Kalbeo, a peri-urban Community Institutional Mapping (CIM) and Participatory Technology Development (PTD) approach a collaborative action research was conducted among farmers. The findings were that lack of credit support, transport limitations, inefficient groundnut marketing channels and systems, restricted markets and marketing opportunities have contributed to limiting the realization of this potential of the rural woman.

It is recommended that: the entrepreneurial and groundnuts marketing skills of the rural women be enhanced through capacity building. Individual and group marketing systems be effectively developed. Provide capital and credit support. Encourage diversification in value-addition to groundnut marketing. Strategically locate purchasing and sale to coincide with periods of profit maximization and expand marketing networks and reorganize marketing systems.

Ghana Journal of Development Studies Vol. 3(1) 2006: 119-136