Beneficiaries of the Women Rear Project have commended management of the project for helping them to now access vaccines for their animals as they have been registered on the vaccine delivery application where veterinary officers vaccinate their animals when it is time to do so.
They said as result of this, they were happy that their animals were no longer dying, and they could sell them to earn income to take care of themselves and their families.
They shared these testimonies at a stakeholders’ engagement and dissemination workshop in Tamale held to share findings on the project, and to get feedback from stakeholders on policy recommendations to influence policy and action in the livestock vaccine sector.
They said they were women, who initially were not allowed to keep animals but through the project, they were now able to do so, which was positive.
The Women Rear Project was implemented from 2019 to 2023 in the Bawku West and Pusiga Districts of the Upper East Region by a consortium comprising CARE International in Ghana, International Livestock Research Institute, and Cowtribe Technology Company Limited with funding from International Development Research Center, Global Affairs Canada, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
It sought to identify, test, and monitor two approaches – gender accommodative and gender transformative – to develop the vaccine delivery system for Newcastle Disease in chicken and peste des petits (PPR) goats, and to create knowledge on institutional requirements for a vaccine delivery system that was responsive to the needs of both women animal health service providers and women farmers.
It was also to identify women’s capabilities that needed support, and gender norms that needed to be addressed for all animal health service providers and women farmers to benefit from the vaccine delivery system.
Whilst in Ghana, over three million farmers depend on livestock farming for food and income. Newcastle Disease, peste des petits ruminants and contagious caprine pleuropneumonia result in high mortality rates in goats and poultry and reduce incomes for the women that depend on these livestock.
Whilst vaccines were available, uptake was affected by poor demand from farmers, cold chain constraints, and insufficient trained veterinary officers to administer vaccines, while delivery systems also did not account for women’s needs, hence the project.
Mrs Alice Awini, a beneficiary from Kobori community, who rears goats and sheep, speaking at the workshop, said “First, I did not have my own animals. But now, because of the project, I am a livestock farmer.”
She said “We were not having access to vaccines. We did not even know our veterinary officers. It was only the men, who had access to them. That was why our animals died those days. So, through the project, veterinary officers have been introduced to us, and now we have quality and healthy animals, which give us incomes and meat.”
She said “They trained us on how and when to vaccinate our animals. Through this, our animals are now increasing. There is no death being recorded again.”
Mrs Halidu Alijetu, a beneficiary from Pusiga District, who rears goats and sheep, said “Now, I have my own animals. They are vaccinated every three months. They are very healthy.”
Mr Emmanuel Azure, a beneficiary from Nakom Electoral Area in the Pusiga District, who owns a herd of cattle, sheep, goats and poultry, said “The project helped us a lot in the sense that it has brought unity between spouses as they now own and rear the animals to make incomes for the upkeep of the family.”
Madam Agnes Loriba, Programme Team Leader, Right to Food, Water Systems and Climate Justice, and Principal Investigator for Women Rear Project at CARE International in Ghana, spoke about some of the activities undertaken as part of the project.
She advised beneficiaries to take livestock farming or rearing serious as business and called on government to invest in making vaccines available, but also more importantly ensure that “The vaccines target women because they were also equally important livestock farmers, so that they can also have vaccines for their animals.
Dr Abdul Razak Okine, Deputy Director, Animal Production Directorate, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, lauded the project for its impact on the lives of the beneficiaries and said it had come to solve the problem of women not having access to vaccines and their participation in the livestock sector.
He said, “As a policy, we will want to encourage more women not to give up even within the limitations of the cultural practices, they should step out and dispel some of these practices that do not inure to their benefits.”
