The support formed part of a $373,000 grant launched in 2022 by the Australian Government to support some selected African countries including Ghana.

The beneficiaries have been presented with start-up kits such as processing roasters, basins, mini-water storage tanks, buckets and oil extraction cooking pots.

They have also benefited from capacity building on financial management, savings, and record keeping.

The women are beneficiaries of the "Increasing Productivity and Profitability of Women-Owned Small-Scale Businesses" project implemented by Children Believe, a child focus organisation in Ghana and the Markaz Al Bishara Child Development Programme.

Visit

The support was made known when the Second Secretary at the Australian High Commission in Ghana, Harriet Williams, and some other development partners visited Katariga and Tampe-Kukuo in the Sagnarigu Municipality, to interact with the project beneficiaries.

The visit was also to interact with the project partners to identify gaps that were created during the implementation and how to sustain the project.

Speaking to the media during the visit, Ms Williams said "I must say I am very impressed with what I have seen, I know a lot of works have gone into these and I wish to thank Children Believe for a good work done. We will continue to support, especially in the area of women empowerment."

The Country Director of Children Believe, Esenam Kavi Desouza, said the participation of women in profitable small-scale businesses was essential to ensuring that their rights were recognised and to enable them to have control over their personal lives, while exerting influence in their homes and communities.

She also said though shea butter production was the main livelihood for over 900,000 rural women in Ghana, they benefited less from the final value of the commodity, hence the need for the implementation of the project.