By Peter Agengre
The manner in which various funeral rites are performed in the Upper East Region, especially in the BONABOTO catchment area, is said to be causing poverty, and also breeding unnecessary competition among women.
To commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day, the Maltaaba Peasant Women Farmers’ Co-operative in the Upper East Region has called on traditional rulers and stakeholders to find a better alternative to the extravagant spending on funerals.
From buying expensive caskets and sewing new clothes to slaughtering animals and organising massive feasts, these are the adopted characteristics of funerals in the Upper East Region, especially within the frafra-speaking population.
The financial and social resources invested in funerals are being described as unnecessary.
When the Maltaaba Peasant Women Farmers’ Co-operative converged at Yameriga in the Talensi District, they observed that women often stretch themselves a lot to impress their families during funerals.
Board Chairperson of the group, Ms Mollydeen Buntuuya, stated that the practice whereby daughters send large sums of foodstuffs such as rice, frytol oil, soap, mackerel, and pork when funerals are performed in their father’s house is not part of the rites.
This, Mollydeen believes, is putting pressure on women to impress their families and making them poorer.
The Director of Maltaaba Peasant Women Farmers’ Co-operative, Ms Lydia Miyella, mentioned that the organisation, over the years, has implemented several interventions aimed at empowering women economically and socially.
Ms Miyella was not happy that climate change is hitting hard on rural folks, especially vulnerable women and children.
Ms Lydia Miyella also used the occasion to remind political parties that the Maltaaba Peasant Women Farmers’ Co-operative would be looking out for policies and programmes that would benefit women in society.
The women also appreciated the support of STAR GHANA Foundation for assisting them to access productive farmlands in the past years.
They appealed to government to come out with agriculture policies and interventions that will give equal opportunities to smallholder rural women farmers, to benefit from credit facilities from financial institutions to help expand their businesses.
According to them, Ghana cannot achieve the Sustainable Development Goals when women are discriminated against and stereotyped.
Therefore, the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, “Investing in Women: Accelerate Progress,” serves as a wake-up call for all stakeholders, including state and non-state actors, to act now.
