Promoting Sustainable Agricultural And Environmental Practices Among Women Of The Wa District: A Case Study Of The Suntaa-Nuntaa’s Project In The Upper West Region.

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