By Joyce Gyekye
A review of Ghana’s National Climate Change Policy, with specific focus on agriculture, indicates that gender issues as pertained in the policy are not entirely implemented.
This was revealed in research by Dr. Portia Adade Williams of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR’S- Science and Technology Policy Research Institute, STEPRI.
National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) of Ghana is an integrated response to the weather phenomenon. It was compiled in 2013 within the context of national sustainable development priorities and provides a clearly defined pathway for dealing with the challenges of climate change within the socio-economic context of the country.
The document specifically mentions gender mainstreaming in all the major areas like agriculture, energy, health, water resources, and forestry that climate change impacts the most, as women are among the most vulnerable groups.
More than a decade after its implementation, Dr Portia Adade Williams, with the support of African Women in Agriculture Research and Development (AWARD), looked at the implementation of gender policy in the agricultural sector in the country’s National Climate Change Policy.
She acknowledged that there are some efforts at implementing gender in the Agric policy but not in its entirety, adding that “there are also areas that we can improve on”.
She mentioned the importance of allocating budget for gender issues to specifically address those concerns and not only concentrate on the Nationally Determined Contributions, “NDCs and the NAPs, National Adaptation Plan”.
Dr Adade Willams asked all stakeholders to help in the implementation of gender policies, hence the meeting in Accra, which looked at Enhancing operationalisation of NCCP among smallholders in the Agricultural Systems and Why Gender Matters. The Executive Secretary of Peasant Farmers Association Bismark Nortey, said government policy, PFJ mentions gender as a critical issue to be addressed but without a targeted plan.
“’When it comes to the roll-out of the PFJ, if you look at the policy framework broadly, it talks about inclusivity where it seeks to identify that, all genders are considered but no clear plan as to how the women or youth or vulnerable groups can actually benefit,” he noted.
Bismark Nortey noted that the policy does not favour most women in the northern sector who, for locations of their farms, couldn’t register them under the PFJ due to lack of Agric extension officers.
“So, if there is no definite plan for women to be registered and lamp both men and women to register at the same time, then you are disadvantaging the women.”
He also called for intentional policies, targeted at vulnerable groups. Participants at the dialogue, which included the media, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, gender CSOs, academia, and the private sector, were aimed at providing a platform for knowledge sharing to identify partners to advance the country’s policy development planning and implementation of gender inclusive agricultural policies.
Participants called for the revision of the National Climate Change Policy by incorporating emerging international climate change treaties that the country has signed to address existing gaps in the NCCP.
