Abokobi (GAR), Feb. 17, GNA-The Abokobi Presbyterian Women Centre under the Canadian International

Development Agency (CIDA) fund are supporting 54 women in the Ga East Municipality in grass-cutter

farming. Centre had provided the women with a cage, four animals and an amount of 200 Ghana Cedis each to begin

their new venture. The Reverend Felicia Adu-Kumi, Director of the Centre, announced these at the end of a 10-day workshop

for the beneficiaries at Abokobi in the Ga East Municipality in the Greater Accra Region on Wednesday. The workshop was to facilitate the empowerment of women to improve their quality of life and that of

their families. It was also to achieve gender equality in the male dominated society, which would lead to equal

participation in the socio-economic and political life of the country. Rev. Adu-Kumi noted that though women constituted about 51 percent of the population and contributed

significantly towards food security, they were entangled in widespread poverty. She said the only way to break the cycle of poverty was to empower women economically through

interventions that target productive activities of poor women to provide them with employable skills training

to reduce poverty and increase their income levels and the quality of life for households. Rev. Mrs. Cynthia Boama, Programmes Coordinator of the Centre, urged the women to form cooperative

associations to enable them to get access to financial and other forms of assistance to establish grass-cutter

farms. The Programmes Coordinator expressed gratitude for the assistance given by CIDA to support the project. The participants thanked the Centre and CIDA and gave the assurance that they would impart the

knowledge acquired for the benefit of others in the community. They said they would form a vibrant association and work together as a team to enable them get more

support to expand their businesses. 17 Feb.10