Assin Fosu records increased women participation in SIWA assessment

Increased participation of women was recorded during an engagement between farmers in Assin Fosu and the DIPPER Lab SIWA team.

The meeting formed part of an assessment of the Smart Indigenous Weather App (SIWA) and its influence on farming decisions.

 Climate Change and Ecosystem Monitoring Lead, Dr. Enoch Bessah, said “the turnout of women at the meeting was higher compared to previous engagements”.

He noted that “the development is important for strengthening decision-making at the household level and improving the use of the application”.

The exercise is part of ongoing efforts to evaluate how farmers are using the SIWA app following its introduction last year in the district.

During the session, the team reviewed records generated from farmers’ use of the app to assess how accurate its predictions have been over time.

Farmers also shared feedback on how the app is supporting their day-to-day farming activities.

The ObaaSIWA initiative is being implemented under the Gender and Responsible Artificial Intelligence Network as part of efforts to develop the Gender Equality and Digital Inclusion (GEDI) framework and the SIWA mobile application.

The project is funded under the EmpowerHerAI initiative.

It also forms part of a collaboration between DIPPER Lab and GRAIN to develop digital tools that promote gender equality and responsible artificial intelligence across Africa.

The Gender and Responsible Artificial Intelligence Network (GRAIN) is funded under the Artificial Intelligence for Development (AI4D).

Dr. Elikplim Abui Tamakloe, Gender Lead at the DIPPER Lab, engaged women farmers to explore their role in farm-level decision-making and collected feedback on how the app can be improved to better meet their needs.