Abstract:
This study explored how “Suntaa-Nuntaa” a local Non-Governmental
Organisation (NGO) in the Upper West Region of Ghana was able to provide
disadvantaged rural women with income-generating activities that took into
account environmental practices. The main elements of the Suntaa-Nuntaa
programmed laid emphasis on the organization, sensitization and education o f
women through women groups that it formed in Wa District of the Upper West
Region.
The study was conducted in eighteen (18) of fifty-three (53) women groups
established by Suntaa-Nuntaa in the Wa District, using simple random sampling.
Again a simple random sampling procedure was used to pick 30% of individual
respondents from each of the eighteen (18) groups giving a sample size of 107
individual respondents. Individual interview schedules and focus group
discussions were employed to elicit responses from the respondents.
In general, the findings showed that Suntaa-Nuntaa was able to lead women o f
the Wa District to identify the factors which are responsible for degrading the
environment, for example, bushfire, tree felling, and bad farming practices.
Through its methods of education and sensitization, Suntaa-Nuntaa was able to
make beneficiaries of the programme appreciate the harmful effects of land
degradation.
By using drama, workshops and field demonstration, Suntaa-Nuntaa was also
able to equip beneficiaries with skills of tree planting, animal rearing, honey
production and simple accounting procedures. Ultimately, Suntaa-Nuntaa was
able to empower women and thus made them capable of freeing themselves
from poverty, ignorance and suffering which significantly improve their living
conditions.
