Form Ghana is building a company where men and women contribute to growth across every department, from cleaning to field operations and senior management. This is not a modest ambition. It is a deliberate, measurable, policy-grounded commitment.
The African forestry sector, particularly in operational and technical roles, is heavily skewed towards males. Women have historically been underrepresented at senior operational levels, and career progression has been limited. Form Ghana acknowledges this reality and is actively working to change it.
"We do not define roles by gender. We define them by skill, dedication, and performance."
~ Willem Fourie, Form Ghana CEO
One of the most persistent barriers to women entering forestry is not policy or hiring practice. It is perception. The idea that forestry work is inherently a male domain because it is physical, hot, dusty, and demanding runs deep in the wider community and often among women themselves.
These perceptions are understandable. They are also wrong, or at least far more complicated than the stereotyped myth suggests.
Physical strength is one dimension of forestry work, but it is rarely the defining one. Technique, training, precision, and judgement matter far more than raw strength in most operational roles.
That applies nowhere more clearly than in chainsaw operation. A trained female operator working with the correct equipment, posture, and method is not a compromise. She is a professional doing her job. Form Ghana has invested in proper training, appropriate equipment, and a workspace where competence, not assumed physical limitation, determines who does what.
"In environments where you may be the only woman in the room, competence is your foundation and your leverage. When you are well-prepared, practical, and honest about what you know, and what you don't, barriers tend to soften."
~ Afia Bediako Yeboa, the Berekum Plantation Manager
Heat, dust, and physical endurance are real features of field work. There are also features that men and women manage differently and equally. Acclimatisation, fitness, hydration, rest, and good safety practice protect all workers. Form Ghana’s safety protocols are gender-neutral by design: they are built around the task and the environment, not assumptions about who can or cannot cope.
The harder challenge is internal. It is the moment a woman hesitates at a job opportunity because she has absorbed the message, from family, community, or her own experience, that practical forestry work is not for her.
Form Ghana works against that hesitation through mentorship, visible female role models in operational positions, and evidence that women are already doing these jobs well.
Women at Form Ghana are not clustered in support roles. They hold operational, technical, and leadership positions across the business. For example:
Form Ghana’s Management Development Programme actively identifies and nurtures young people who demonstrate problem-solving ability, self-motivation, initiative, and a capacity for growth over six months.
Full-time employees, regardless of gender, are encouraged to develop personal, professional, academic, and leadership goals. Additional investment goes into professional growth and management development across departments.
Form Ghana’s employees live in neighbouring communities where gender roles remain traditionally defined. The company is candid about this tension. Female leaders must navigate peer pressure, tribal customs and perceptions about the role of women with children, and personal criticism.
The company's response is to equip employees to manage these perceptions and challenges. Female and male leaders at Form Ghana are mentored to build confidence, credibility, and respect for all. Women are coached in assertiveness and in building their authority through demonstrated competence and the ability to ask for help.
“Equality is not optional. It is essential to the company's potential, the local economy, and the country's future”
~ Willem Fourie, Form Ghana CEO.
Commitment to gender equity extends to practical workplace infrastructure. Form Ghana provides on-site crèche facilities to support breastfeeding mothers and working parents, enabling women to pursue full careers without compromising family responsibilities.
Clear reporting mechanisms and a safe, accountable workplace culture support a zero-tolerance policy on harassment and gender-based violence.
The Form Ghana Ladies Club is a voluntary employee association established to empower female staff and promote their holistic development. Elected leadership rotates, and the current presidents are Blessing Felix Ngozi at the Akumadan site and Comfort Gyan in Berekum.
The club delivers leadership development, mentorship, skills training, and confidence-building initiatives. It supports economic self-reliance and entrepreneurship, and functions as an informal welfare network during significant life events.
Form Ghana's commitment to gender equality extends into the communities where it operates. The company respectfully challenges stereotypes both internally and externally, engaging with communities, leaders, and stakeholders through transparent communication and agroforestry partnerships.
The company's broader community investments include road construction and repairs, borehole establishment and maintenance, bridge repairs, wildfire management, and seedling and agro-forestry training. All are grounded in respect for local leadership and communication structures.
Form Ghana's commitment is anchored in its Gender Equity and Inclusion Policy and aligned with three key legislative frameworks:
In 2025, women made up 27% of Form Ghana’s leadership and 32% of the company’s total employees. Willem Fourie, the CEO, says the 50% target is not treated as a compliance exercise. It reflects Form Ghana's culture of equality, operational values, and vision for sustainable forest development.
"Equality is not optional. It is essential to the company's future, the local economy, and the country's future."
~ Willem Fourie, Form Ghana’s Chief Executive Officer
Mariam Awuni, Form Ghana’s Human Resources Manager, believes the company will achieve its 2030 target of 50% female workforce representation. She says it may be challenging; however, Form Ghana’s male managers and supervisors agree, and everyone is working together to build positive attitudes towards women at work and in the communities.
"We do not make assumptions about what male or female employees can or cannot do. Instead, we create an enabling environment where talent, dedication, and skill determine one's path, not gender."
~ Mariam Awuni, Form Ghana HR Manager
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