Agricultural Issues
Rice Imports Killing Local Growers - FAO
Peace FM Online
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says Ghana’s over-reliance on foreign imported rice is becoming a source of worry. “By limiting the importation of rice, the country will save money and invest in market development to increase productivity and expand growth. This is how most countries develop,” said FAO Representative in Ghana, Musa Saihou Mbenga, in an interview with Business and Financial Times. [more]
GTLC to Hold Stakeholders Meeting for Joint Tomato Enterprise
Myjoyonline.com
The Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition, a trade and agriculture policy advocacy and research non-governmental organization, is to hold a strategic meeting of stakeholders this month to finalize a roadmap for the establishment of a joint tomato enterprise between Ghana and Burkina Faso The aim of the joint venture between the two countries is to help to find a lasting solution to the problems confronting tomato farmers in both countries, especially in the area of marketing. [more]
Policy to Develop Cocoa Value Chain Instituted
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
Government has instituted a policy to develop the cocoa value chain with special incentives to attract a substantial investment in the processing of the product in Ghana. The objective of the incentive is to increase the proportion of local processing of the commodity up to 50 percent. The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Kwesi Ahwo, made this known in a speech at the opening of the 27th Biennial conference of the Ghana Science Association in Kumasi. [more]
SMS Technology Connects Ghana's Cocoa Farmers
Ghana Business News
An innovative mobile technology using SMS has been launched in Ghana to connect cocoa farmers in communities where the country’s most valuable cash crop is produced. Since March 2011, some 1,500 farmers in 15 Western Region communities have already signed up to participate in the program offering the technology, known as CocoaLink which provides text messages to farmers with access to mobile phones, a press release from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has said. [more]
Agric Plant Pool Set Up In Tamale
Modern Ghana
Agricultural mechanization in the three northern regions is to receive a major boost following the setting up of an agricultural plant pool in Tamale to serve farmers in that part of the country. The project will cost US$4.2million and will make available modern agricultural equipment, including tractors, bulldozers, planters, boom sprayers, harvesters, threshers, seed selectors and grain transporters to farmers. The National Association of Agric Mechanization Service Centre Operators (NAAMSECO) is to set up the centre through a special funding arrangement. Under the arrangement, the Northern Rural Growth Program (NRGP) will provide 40 per cent of the funds as a grant as part of its matching grants initiative. [more]
Food Crisis/Security
IFPRI Launches New Tool on Price Variability
Ghana News Agency
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), has launched an Excessive Food Price Variability Early Warning System. This new tool measures excessive food price variability and is the only mechanism currently available to identify time spans of increased price variability. It is updated daily and forewarns policymakers and humanitarian agencies of periods of time with excessive food price variability. This was contained in a statement issued by IFPRI and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, on Tuesday. Based on sophisticated statistical modeling (NEXQ: Nonparametric Extreme Quantile Model), this first-of-its kind tool provides daily price variability ratings for four major crops—hard wheat, soft wheat, corn, and soybeans. [more]
Ghana to Insure Grain Production against Weather
Coastweek
President of the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) Benjamin Acolatse claimed here on Thursday that it had taken a move to insure crop production against negative weather conditions, He said it is also to help farmers minimize the effects of bad weather conditions on their investments. The “2011 Drought Index Insurance” under the Ghana Agricultural Insurance Program (GAIP), which is underway in the three northern regions, was designed to help agricultural financing institutions to manage risk from severe drought. [more]
Local Government/Decentralization
More Urban Growth, Less Rural Poverty for Ghana
Ghana
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) in partnership with Cities Alliance has organized a one-day land, services and citizenship for the Urban Poor Program (LSC) on the theme; “Planning Ghana’s Urban Future”. This initiative undertaken by the government of Ghana is aimed at aligning urban development and also involve the urban poor in the planning and decision making processes at the national, local and community levels respectively. [more]
Lack of Knowledge on Revised Decentralization Policy Affecting Development
GhanaWeb.com
The lack of knowledge on the revised decentralization policy is affecting development at the Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs), in the Upper East Region. The President of the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA), Mr Bismark Ayorogo Adongo, made the observation during a policy education seminar, organized by NORPRA and IBIS Ghana, for Assembly and Unit Committee members from the Bolgatanga Municipal and Bongo District Assemblies. [more]