Growing in Ghana

Photos by Kelvin Dela Armstrong | Kelldellstudios

MEDA board visits groundnut processor Dunyiya Enterprise

By Krista O’Brien

Dunyiya is located at Banvim, a community in the Northern region of Ghana. The business is owned by Sulemana Abdul Majeed, who is a farmer and an entrepreneur. Dunyiya opened its first groundnut shelling center in 2012. The business serves small-scale women farmers. It helps to reduce the drudgery of women shelling groundnuts (peanuts) with their own hands.

Production at the shelling centre varies throughout the year, based on how many groundnuts are harvested by farmers, who are primarily women. If running at full production, the centre can produce 16 metric tonnes per day, but in a low season, their production is slowed to 3-4 tonnes per day. The center offers job opportunities to women directly and aggregators who shell their groundnuts using the facility. During peak season, the facility will employ up to 30 women, many of them widows.

MEDA’s GROW2 (Greater Opportunities for Rural Women) project is negotiating with Dunyiya to provide business development services and a matching grant award of $100,000 Canadian. Dunyiya would use that money to expand its business by setting up a shelling center close to GROW2 project clients to create jobs for women entrepreneurs.

Women harvest groundnuts and bring them to Dunyiya to remove the shells, expediting the process from ground to market. Many of the women who work to provide for their families are widows. Shelled groundnuts fetch a higher price at the market, helping to raise incomes for farmers and saving them hours of labor. To see the business in action, watch a video here.
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