Africa Skills Hub, in partnership with Canada World Youth- Jeunesse Canada Monde (CWY-JCM), has selected 100 women entrepreneurs for the Suhuyini Food and Beverage Incubation programme in Tamale.

The Suhuyini Food and Beverage Incubation is a new platform set up to catalyse food innovations in northern Ghana due to rising levels of gender and social inequality of women.

A statement issued in Accra by Mr Daniel Antwi, the Co-founder of Africa Skills Hub, said the 100 young women in three cohorts of 33-34 each would be given the opportunity to experience unique learning experiences.

It said the experiences would be delivered through various COVID-19 recognised protocol methods such as e-coaching, e-learning, peer to peer networking, business training, access to market, and a sexual and gender-based violence advocacy programme.

“It is intended to assist women who double as food entrepreneurs in developing and scaling up their unique innovations by focusing on unlocking food innovations, which are low-hanging fruits in northern Ghana," Miss Anatu Ben-Lawal, the Programme Director said.

She said with support from experts and partners, food entrepreneurs would be able to access markets internally and externally while increasing their earnings.

Rural women in Tamale and its surrounding districts are said to be vulnerable due to high unemployment, with most of them engaged in the informal sector carrying out often precarious jobs some of, which are exploitative.

The Programme Director said Adolescent Girls and Young Women were facing further challenges due to gender inequalities and the COVID-19 pandemic was deepening the pre-existing inequalities, exposing vulnerabilities in the social, political, and economic systems.

The sexual and gender-based advocacy Programme will simultaneously be underway in the community with outreaches and dialogues with community leaders.