25-year-old Nana Abena Akrasi is the founder of Young Women Empowerment Initiative (YWEI) in Ghana. In her own words, ‘Young Women Empowerment Initiative runs projects that will enhance young women’s lives and address challenges young women face.’

One of these projects, ‘Young Single Mothers/The Soya Project’ was recently awarded ‘Best Project’, by the National Union of Ghanaian Students (NUGS). The project involved training 64 young single mothers between the ages of 15 and 29 in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana on the use of soya beans for commercial and domestic use. Participants also attended a workshop on establishing new businesses, managing and expanding existing businesses and identifying market opportunities.

Nana Abena decided to start working with single mothers when she visited the Brong Ahafo region in December 2006. She was struck by the high number of teenagers who are single mothers and are struggling to raise children without the support of the men with whom they had the children. As a result, Nana Abena initiated a ‘Young Single Mothers Club’ in Baabianiha, near Berekum in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana.

In order to provide members of the club with a source of income, YWEI decided to take advantage of a ‘Medium Term Agriculture Development Project’ initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture in conjunction with Women in Agriculture and started a Soya Project. Soya is normally produced only in the Northern part of Ghana so this project involved introducing a new crop to the community. YWEI partnered with a number of bodies to ensure the success of the project. This included the Municipal Assembly, the local Business Advisory Centre, and the local unit of the Department of Women. YWEI also successfully garnered corporate sponsorship from a national telecom company.

Key achievements of the project included:

• Training 64 single mothers in the cultivation and processing of soya beans within the Berekum, Jaman North and Dorma Districts of the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana
• Forming 3 strong single mothers groups which provides support and solidarity to its members
• Successfully introducing a new crop to the Brong Ahafo Region. As a result of the training a number of participants have started soya farms.

Apart from the ‘Young Single Mothers/The Soya Project’, YWEI has also commenced a ‘Ladies Empowerment Club’ at Zenith University in Ghana. Members of the club meet to discuss a range of issues, which are a challenge to women on the campus. It is the hope of YWEI that they will be able to establish Ladies Empowerment Clubs’ in a number of tertiary universities across the country.

AWDF is proud of the achievements of YWEI and the initiative, leadership and tenacity demonstrated by its Executive Director by Nana Abena Akrasi. Congratulations!