Agricultural Issues
IFDC, SARI Introduce Heat Tolerant Tomatoes on the Market
Ghana Business News
The International Centre for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC) is to assist farmers in the Northern Region to cultivate variety of tomatoes, which are heat tolerant. The project is being collaborated by Savannah Agriculture Research Institute (SARI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The tomatoes seedling, which was acquired from the international Crop Research Institute for Semi Arid-Tropics in Niger produces more fruits and lasts long. [more]
Agriculture Holds Ghana's Future, Not Gold, Not Oil
Myjoyonline.com
Vice President John Dramani Mahama, highly impressed with the exploits of the Ghana National Service Scheme’s Agric Projects after a visit to the scheme’s Komenda Farms in the Central Region Friday, says the future of the nation lies in agriculture, not gold or oil. “The future of this country is not in gold, it’s not in oil; the future of this country is in agriculture,” he pointed out, explaining that “It is agriculture that will truly transform this country and take it to the next level that we want it to go to and it is easy for us as a people to feed ourselves once the right policies are in place and we have the will to.” [more]
Ghana Cocoa Board Signs USD 2 Billion for 2011/2012 Cocoa Purchases
Ghana
Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has signed a syndicated receivables-backed pre-export finance facility of USD 2 Billion for the 2011/2012 crop season. The facility, which is the largest soft commodity deal in sub Saharan Africa, was once again oversubscribed by over 20 international and Ghanaian banks. The amount raised been increasing in value since 1992 when the government of Ghana under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) turned to the international financial market to raise short term finance to support cocoa purchases. Mr. Anthony Fofie, the Chief Executive of COCOBOB, who signed for the Board praised the Government of Ghana under the leadership of H.E. Prof Evans Atta Mills for his commitment to the cocoa industry. [more]
Food Crisis/Security
AGRA - Helping to Solve Food Insecurity in the Country
AllAfrica.com
Africa is the second largest continent in the world and has about 70 percent of its population engaged in agriculture. In spite of this, when it comes to the issue of food insecurity in the world, Africa is pin pointed as one of the graveyards of starvation. Food insecurity has been part of the African continent, due to the larger number of farmers operating as small holder farmers. The poverty level in Africa, which has resulted in many small scale farm holdings, has made it impossible for the continent to come out from food insecurity, since the farm products of these farmers are insufficient for their families, much more for marketing purposes. [more]
Local Government/Decentralization
Implementation of Ghana's Decentralization Policy Is Slow
GhanaWeb
Stakeholders at an advocacy workshop in Bolgatanga on Friday, noted that implementation of Ghana’s decentralization policy had fallen short of stimulating mass participation in governance at grass roots. Mr. Paul Osei Kuffuor, Program Manager, Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), a research and advocacy institute, said after two decades of implementation of Ghana’s decentralization policy, the process was still too slow. He made the observation at a workshop, organized by CDD-Ghana and Deutsche Gesllechaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on the theme: “Strengthening the role of civil society in decentralization and local governance in Ghana”. [more]
In other news
Climate Change Vulnerability and Impacts in River Basins and Aquifers Basins in Africa: Analysis of Key Response Strategies
This paper sets out the many challenges and implications of climatic variability and change for river basins and aquifers in Africa, with important impacts on water resources and hydrological systems, water availability and water resource management. The status of water resources in Africa has been changing for many decades, through decreasing water quality, falling groundwater levels, more or less rainfall, and changed timing of rainfall. Change is not new. Climate change, however, will strongly accelerate the rate of change, affecting the ability of people and societies to respond in a timely manner. [more]
Agricultural Intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa has a wide range of ecologies that differ greatly in potential for agricultural intensification. While the need for agricultural development in areas with low potential is important, the greatest opportunities for increasing agricultural productivity and improving national economic well-being lie in high-potential zones. The report, therefore, focuses on opportunities for significant progress in areas with the greatest potential for increased production. This brief report focuses on a few key problems, among many, and makes recommendations for action in areas believed to offer the greatest and most immediate opportunities for improvement. Because circumstances vary from country to country throughout the region, each location will require activities to address specific circumstances. [more]
Towards Sustainable Supply Chain Management in Agricultural Sector
In recent years several contributions have been provided concerning sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), ranging from theoretical analysis of the topic to practical applications across several industrial sectors. The scope of SSCM has been extended towards various industries and supply chain, not only domestic supply chain but also global supply chain. Transnational companies play important roles in global supply chain: they create business opportunities and entrepreneurial activities along the supply chain but they also arise several issues. Environmental damage, food safety concern, social and sustainability issues have and still a major topic for both domestic and global supply chain management. Many of these issues are driven by external factor such as standards and regulations, as well as customer and market demand. [more]