Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle constituency, Honourable Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has shared her opinions on why few women can be found in the chain of agribusiness. The activist revealed that the lack of access to adequate loans to support women in agribusiness is a major reason why there are only a few women in the field.
Dr. Zanetor said this while expressing her views on ‘Championing women and making it possible in the agribusiness field’, in an interview with host, Eunice Tornyi on the African Women’s Voices Show on ETV Ghana.
The politician made clear, “I think lack of access to big enough loans or resources big enough to support women in the agribusiness industry is one of the main things that is affecting the lack of women empowerment in the sector”.
“When they’re looking for loans, they don’t have the collateral because the land isn’t theirs and the banks and most financial institutions as we know, require collateral in order to grant certain types of loans. Studies have shown that women generally pay back their loans rather than men. However, women have less access to the big loans”, she added.
“As well as that, we have a lot of women who are in the informal sector but they are not quite moving into the corporate structure because with how the community-based system is set up, you don’t have enough women who have the support system that says yes, you can pursue this dream while you have help with looking after your family”, she included.
The MP concluded that as a society, women are the primary nurturers of children and the primary keepers of the household and that makes it difficult trying to climb the corporate ladder or expand a business when society expects the same woman to keep playing all other gender roles assigned to her in addition. Nevertheless, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings believes that the lack of access to big loans or resources is the main cause of this situation, and that must be changed.
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