The apex body of the Women in Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC) has organized a three-day integrated financial management training for its members in Accra.
The purpose of the training was to equip the women with financial literacy to help improve their businesses and also to develop business plan to solicit further support to expand their trade.
Speaking with the facilitator, Roz Sandaham, she explained the financial training can also help the women to prioritize expenditures.
In small businesses, conserving financial resources is a must. A well thought out financial plan can help them prioritize what areas need to be funded immediately, and where their expenses can wait thereby managing cost,” she noted.
Daniel Anang, World Poultry Foundation was particularly enthused about the training, saying that it will help improve lives through the raising the poultry and poultry products. ngo support capacity building
The training will help the women expand their business by taking them to the next level and that is what we at WPF want to see,” he stressed.
Addressing participants, Edwin Bekoe, the Director, Animal Production Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, urged the women to engage in periodic training in building their capacity in financial management of their businesses.
Read also: Agric Ministry rejects claims of fertilizer shortage on market
He explained that it would help and guide in proper bookkeeping and sound records of financial transactions.
Women continuous to play an essential role in the poultry value chain as producers, processors, input dealers, as well as markers therefore their role cannot be overlooked”, he added indicating further that financial institutions must provide credit facilities to streamline the inefficiencies in the poultry production chain.
He noted that the country was exporting poultry and its products in the 1970s and have now become a net importer of same produce at an average of 400,000 metric tonnes of meat estimated at $350 million.
It is having a huge toll on the economy challenging government to roll out the Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJ) programme in 2019 to reverse the trend.
He therefore urged participants to take advantage of the training and share the knowledge acquired with other trading partners.
For her part, the National President of the Apex Body of Women in Poultry Value Chain, Victoria Norgbey said the training programme would harmonize the interest of women in poultry and will serve as a mouthpiece as advocacy for enabling environment towards sustainable poultry business.
She said WIPVaC comprises of aggregators of maize, soya, suppliers of day-old chicks and dealers in poultry inputs such as fish meal, concentrates, poultry drugs, feed, farmers, egg sellers, guinea fowl and chicken products, live bird sellers and processors working collectively to support the food nutrition and security of the citizenry.
The National Coordinator of the Ghana National Egg Secretariat (GNECS), Comfort Kyerewa Acheampong was optimistic that the programme would empower the women and bring them at the fore front of the poultry industry, adding that women have played a leading role in the poultry value chain for many years.
Dzidudu Darkey Mensah, a participant and CEO of DPD Farms with about 600 birds, was positive that the training will help the women to re-write the wrongs of their past.
The training will help women to keep proper track of records and develop competitive business proposals that will help grow our businesses,” she noted.
The training which was under the auspices of the ministry of Food and Agriculture in collaboration with the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH), American Soyabean Association (ASA) and the World Poultry Foundation (WPF), brought together over 60 women across the Greater Accra region and were equipped with efficient and effective management skills to ensure sustainable growth of business to meet the increasing demands.
The participants were taken through understanding the accounting procedure, differentiating Profit from sales, Managing cash flow among others.
[…] Read also: WIPVaC members undergo financial management training […]