From Pageant Queen to Growing Greens
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Akosua Kyerewaa Yeboah-Ghansah has all the charisma you鈥檇 expect from a former pageant contestant鈥攕he鈥檚 confident and articulate, with a winning smile. As a participant in the 2016 Ghana鈥檚 Most Beautiful Pageant, she competed with other young women from across the West African nation, emerging as the second runner up.
But since she hung up her sash, Yeboah-Ghansah has found another passion: helping young women build empowering careers in a field that impacts every Ghanaian. She is the founder of Miss Agriculture Ghana, a national pageant that crowns winners based on their farming, not their figures.
Despite that, many of the Miss Agriculture Ghana contestants are newcomers to agriculture. The program intends to do more than bestow crowns and sashes to its young participants: it builds careers, through an intensive 13-week training program.
Yeboah-Ghansah鈥檚 passion for agriculture started in childhood. Her father, Osabarima Asare Oduro, is the traditional leader of Adeiso, a small town about two hours from Accra, Ghana鈥檚 capital. Her mother is also a powerful local force, having formed an activist group called the Chamber of Women in Agriculture. The family supports several of the town鈥檚 plantations, and as Yeboah-Ghansah is quick to credit her parents with giving her leadership skills. 鈥淚 learned a bit from both of them,鈥 she says. As to her interest in pageantry, she recalls that 鈥淲hen I was a kid, I used to line up other kids in front of me and talk. No surprise I went into pageants!鈥
During her time in the pageant world, Yeboah-Ghansah noticed that most of the young women around her were primarily interested in makeup and beauty. But her concerns were more practical鈥斺渨e need to eat!鈥 she remembers thinking, while other contestants compared notes about lip gloss.
Yeboah-Ghansah鈥檚 concerns have large-scale implications in Ghana. While the country has made tremendous strides in the last 20 years, and about . In addition, climate change is altering rainfall patterns in the nation鈥檚 agricultural regions, so innovations in farming will be increasingly important to help individuals and nations
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Yeboah-Ghansah鈥檚 work tackles these issues by tapping into the intellectual power of Ghana鈥檚 young women, though she admits the fashion component of the program also has its allure for participants. 鈥淭hat was the bait to attract young women into agriculture鈥擨 know they love the pageantry and the fashion, but they鈥檙e also learning a trade.鈥
Each year, her organization selects one or two young women aged 18-30 from the nation鈥檚 16 regions. After a period of classroom training, each is assigned a plot of land. Working with the Ghanaian Food Ministry and local agronomists, participants are trained in agricultural production.
Pride shines through in Yeboah-Ghansah鈥檚 voice as she talks about what the program achieves: 鈥淪ome of these young women never even imagined they could become land owners!鈥 Yeboah-Ghansah is delighted to teach them otherwise. 鈥淚 open their eyes to opportunities in the sector.鈥
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The work has its challenges. For example, land ownership is traditionally reserved for men in Ghana. As the daughter of a chief, Yeboah-Ghansah has easy access to arable land, 鈥渂ut some ladies don鈥檛 have this opportunity鈥擨 wondered, 鈥榟ow best can I support them?鈥欌 As older leaders have seen the dwindling interest in agriculture among Ghana鈥檚 young people, gender barriers have begun to fall out of necessity. As a result, Yeboah-Ghansah has found support among some members of Ghana鈥檚 traditional leadership.
Another barrier has been public perception of agriculture, especially among younger people. 鈥淭here are agricultural colleges in Ghana,鈥 says Akosua, 鈥淏ut they are looked down upon. Some feel it is a field for the aged. And of course, you can鈥檛 dip your hands in the soil if you are a young lady!鈥
Yeboah-Ghansah is quick to tell participants that not everyone who works in agriculture gets their hands dirty鈥攖he Miss Agriculture program also provides training in marketing Ghana鈥檚 agricultural products, designing packaging and considering new ways to export them beyond West Africa.
Whatever their chosen path, the program鈥檚 participants are supported in the long term. They鈥檙e offered training, career placement, and guidance for as long as they need it, through the United Women for Agricultural Development Foundation.
Yeboah-Ghansah is optimistic about professional prospects for women in Ghana, and even though studies show that the country has made progress, the picture is complicated. This points to a gap for young women in particular, who are educated alongside their male counterparts but still struggle to find professional fulfilment in the next stage of life.
With nearly 30 million people to feed, and more than 157,000 square kilometers of farmland, Ghana will have plenty of work for a new generation of agriculturalists. As young women gain confidence and expertise, more and more of them may take center stage.
US Pageants
Agriculture in Ghana
Women in Ghana