Three organizations have launched a new project in the Upper East Region geared at improving the vaccine delivery system of chickens and goats of smallholder farmers in two districts.

The project, dubbed: “Transforming the Vaccine Delivery System for Chickens and Goats in Northern Ghana”, is being implemented by the CARE International in Ghana in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRS) and Cowtribe Technology with funding support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

The new project would benefit smallholder farmers from the Bawku West and Pusiga Districts in the region and spans from March 2019 to March 2022.

Speaking in Bolgatanga at the launching of the project, Mrs Gifty Blekpe, the Assistant Country Director of CARE International in Ghana, explained that the three-year project would seek to test and monitor two approaches including gender accommodative and gender transformative to improve vaccine systems for chicken and goats.

She said the project, apart from seeking to create knowledge on institutional requirements for responsive vaccines delivery systems, would also seek to address women’s needs and gender norms towards an improved vaccine delivery system for animal health service providers and women farmers.

Mrs Blekpe stated that over the years, CARE International, Ghana, in implementing its projects considered gender issues as very critical.

She entreated all stakeholders in the Poultry and the rearing industry including the Regional and District Directors of the Department of Food and Agriculture, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Animal Research Institute, National and Regional Officers of the Veterinary Service and Chiefs, to support the implementation of the project.

Mrs Agnes Loriba, the Programme Manager in charge of Food and Nutrition Security of CARE International in Ghana, mentioned high gender disparity in accessing agriculture inputs, such as equal access to vaccine delivery system, insufficient gender accommodative among other things as some of the challenges confronting smallholder women farmers.

Mrs Loriba, who is also the Principal Investigator of the Project, stated that apart from the project adopting two gender approaches being Gender Accommodative and the Gender transformative approaches to address the root causes of gender inequalities, it would also leverage the use of the Cowtribe mobile technology to deliver animal healthcare in hard-to-reach communities.

She noted that the project would also adopt the Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) structures formed with the support of CARE International in Ghana at the project communities, to work with women farmers as collectives to foster joint learning, reflection and action.