Agri-Business Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs in Northern Ghana: A Supply Chain Integration Approach
This study analyzes agricultural supply chain integration approaches in northern Ghana by comparing three development programs and their impact on women empowerment; the Greater Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW), Market Development Program for Northern Ghana (MADE) and the Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement Project (ADVANCE). Using data from 240 smallholder farmers, the study evaluates the efficacy of the supply chain intervention to enhance Agri-Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Women across diverse contexts. The results showed that GROW demonstrated substantially higher engagement across all value-addition activities, particularly grading and sorting (73.8%) and primary processing (58.8%). This greater engagement corresponds with GROW’s explicit focus on women’s economic empowerment through value-addition activities typically performed by women in northern Ghana. Also, value chains market facilitation demonstrated superior sustainability (73.8% maintained fertilizer access and stronger market relationship development (3.2 established buyer relationships) which could be more beneficial to women Agri-entrepreneurs. Gender-transformative approaches yielded 37.6% income increases for women with smaller farms despite limited resources. Integrated interventions addressing multiple supply chain segments showed 42.8% higher market sales compared to isolated approaches, underscoring their significance for women Agri-entrepreneurial development. Therefore, Agri-entrepreneurial opportunities for women empowerment will requires women-focus supply chain interventions that can improve equitable access to inputs and effective market penetration.
Keywords: Agri-entrepreneurs, women empowerment, agricultural supply chains, smallholder farmers; market facilitation, Northern Ghana
