Below are some current developments on agriculture in Africa:
Agricultural Issues
Cocoa Sector Suffering because Government Bastardized Kufuor’s Project - Dr. Afriyie Akoto
Government is struggling to recoup $1.7 billion it injected into the cocoa sector after the “blatant dissipation” of farmers' resources, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Minority spokesperson on agriculture has said. He told Joy News, farmers have no incentive to increase production, mentioning that Government owes cocoa farmers their three-year bonus to the tune of over 100 million cedis. Also instead of at least tripling producer price last year, the government only doubled it after many years of non-increment. This, according to Dr. Owusu Akoto, has influenced the smuggling of Ghana’s cocoa to the neighbouring countries, stressing, “The producer price is so wide, making it attractive for people to smuggle our cocoa to Togo.” He is worried Government’s attitude towards the sector poses a risk to its ability to pay back the cocoa syndicated loan it secured last year.
Cocoa Production to Hit 1.2million Tonnes this Year
Total cocoa production for the 2014/2015 season will hit 1.2 million metric tonnes, Michael Gyasi, Suhum District Cocoa Officer of the Extension and Health Division of COCOBOD, has hinted. He said available records indicate that production of the commodity will rise from the current figure which is below one million metric tonnes by the end of the lean season. Mr. Gyasi said government is working hard to achieve and sustain the set targets in the bid to ensure that the country becomes the world leader in cocoa production by next year.
Ghana on Course to Eliminate ‘Child Labour’ in Cocoa Growing Areas
Ghana's efforts in the fight against ‘child labour’ in cocoa growing communities have earned international acclaim. Research conducted by the Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America (USA), has established that Ghana’s effort at working hard to stop children from engaging in hazardous work is on course. he research, which covered the 2008/09 and 2013/14 harvest seasons, noted that against a backdrop of population growth and increases in cocoa production, Ghana managed not only to reduce the percentage of children exposed to hazardous work in cocoa but also in other areas of child exploitation. The purpose of the survey, which was conducted in Ghana and Cote d'ivoire, was to assess the prevalence and measure changes in the estimates of working children and children involved in hazardous work in the West African cocoa sector.
Akwatia to Benefit from Cocoa Roads Programme – Veep
Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has announced that government has secured funding to rehabilitate the Akwatia roads as part of the Cocoa Roads Rehabilitation Programme. He said the contract for the Akwatia roads rehabilitation would be awarded to a contractor by next month. Vice President Amissah-Arthur gave the assurance when he joined the chiefs and people of Akwatia to celebrate their annual Denkyembour festival as well as the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the enstoolment of Osabarima Kofi Boateng as Akwatiahene. The festival, which is on the theme: “Denkyembour-our heritage for the development of Akwatiaman” was to enable the people to take stock of the past, the progress they have made so far as well as chart a new path for the future development of Akwatia. The government in December last year announced a 450-million-dollar package for the rehabilitation of roads …
COCOBOD yet to take Decision on Fate of Shares in HFC Bank
COCOBOD has told Citi Business News it is yet to take a decision on whether it will sell its shares in HFC Bank. OCOBOD currently has 5.57 percent shares in HFC bank. Cocobod’s assertions comes at a time when majority shareholder in HFC Bank, Republic bank has been given the green light by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to make a mandatory takeover offer to other shareholders in HFC Bank as part of moves for a mandatory takeover. Republic Bank is offering shareholders of HFC bank GHS1.60 per share as against the 1 cedi 30 pesewas price it is currently going for on the Ghana Stock Exchange…. “Cocobod has not come to that decision, others could sell their shares but Cocobod has not come to that decision to sell off its shares in HFC Bank. We have not even as a company discussed our shares in HFC Bank and we have not taken a decision to vary our position as it were.”
No Locally Produced Genetically Modified (GM) Food on the Market anytime soon - National Biosafety Authority
The National Biosafety Authority is allaying fears it is planning to introduce locally produced Genetically Modified Foods (GM Foods) in the country soon for consumption, without the necessary regulatory checks. Although confined field trials are currently on going for GM rice, cowpea and other crops, the Authority says none of these will hurriedly pass onto the Ghanaian market anytime soon. Civil Society Group, Food Sovereignty Ghana, has accused government of planning to commercialize the GM crops in the coming weeks without exhausting required approval procedures. Lawyer for the group, George Tetteh Wayo, claims the group is aware the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is about releasing GM rice and GM cowpea onto the market in the next few weeks.
Agric is National Security Issue; Banks must be 'Forced' to Give Loans to Farmers- Kareweh
The General Secretary of the Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) is calling for a national policy that will make banks and other financial institutions grant credit facilities to farmers. Edward Kareweh said that will be the surest way to solve the age-long debacle of lack of credit facilities to farmers. He made the comment during a round table discussion organized by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) for farmers and financial institutions to brainstorm on how to solve the problem of lack of credit facilities to farmers. Farmers across the country have been lamenting the lack of funds for their production activities and have never missed any opportunity to make their concerns known to the public. President of the PFAG, Mohammed Abdul-Rahman said the lack of credit for farmers to purchase farm inputs has been a headache for many farmers.
Stakeholders in Kassena-Nankana Hold Agriculture Policy Forum
An agriculture policy sensitization forum has been held at Navrongo in the Upper East Region to diagnose challenges facing the sector and come out with effective solutions. The forum which was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Ghana and the Agricultural Development and Value Chain Advancement (ADVANCE) programme, brought together major stakeholders in Agriculture from the area. Mr. Festus Kwadzokpo, Capacity Building coordinator, USAID Agricultural Policy Support Project, in a presentation highlighted on the five-year Agriculture Policy Support Project (APSP) saying it had a goal to improve food security-enabling environment for private sector investment in agriculture.
500 Plantain Farmers to Undergo Training
Government intends to train 500 farmers with requisite skills and best practices in plantain production processes, latest technique and value addition in the Brong Ahafo and Ashanti Regions under the auspices of Colombia’s National Training Service Institute (SENA). The initiative, which is the brain-child of the National Youth Authority (NYA), is assisted by the Ministry of Youth and Sports. According to the Coordinator of NYA, Ras Mubarak, one of the priorities in the Youth Policy is to encourage young people in modern agriculture -- and he bemoaned how the youth have been unable to harness the agriculture sector’s full potential. “It is no surprise we are collaborating with SENA, which is more like the NYA of Ghana. They come with lots of experience and technical know-how to help us,” he said. This was revealed at a press conference on an exchange programme between Ghana and Colombia on the usage and …
Autism Is Treatable with Coconut Oil- Food Scientists Reveals
Dr Kaku Kyiamah, a renowned Food Scientist has revealed that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain can be treated with the appropriate diet and support. He noted that designed meaningful dietary strategies based on short and medium chain saturated fatty acids, found mainly in breast milk, coconut oil and palm kernel oil can manage, cure and even prevent autism. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, Dr Kyiamah explained that to avoid autism, breast feeding was very essential and should be undertaken for about two years and the breast milk should contain very high levels of saturated fatty acids and the mono unsaturated oleic acid with little or no long chain poly unsaturated fatty acids. “A careful analysis of various studies and recommendations indicates that appropriate diet with patience and support from the parents can heal autism”, he added. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. Scientists do not know yet exactly what causes these differences for most people with the disorder.
Land and Natural Resources Minister Bemoans Damage to Environment
Nii Osah Mills, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has bemoaned the damage being caused to the environment by Galamsey operators and urged those involved in such operations to help protect the land for future generations. The Minister made the plea during a 3-day field trip to Gwira Kutukrom, Wiawso and Banso in the Western region to have firsthand information on the extent of damage caused by galamsey. A statement from the Ministry signed by Ms. Victoria Antwi Sarpong, the Head of Public Relations, summarizing the three-day visit said, Nii Osah Mills lamented the hazardous use of mercury by the 'galamseyers' and how the open pits left at these sites had become death traps. The statement said the Minister addressed over fifty people found at the sites, who had come from various parts of the country to engage in Galamsey, and advised them to be mindful of their activities as their effects are harmful to this generation and generations unborn. Meanwhile, two Chinese men were picked up at the site for investigation.
Ghana: Strategic Partnership to Improve Productivity
CNFA (Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture) and GSI Group have launched a strategic partnership aimed at promoting food storage and protein production systems as a critical way to improve farm productivity and food security. This partnership will notably strive to significantly reduce the multi-billion dollar food losses that occur yearly due to insufficient and inadequate post-harvest infrastructures in Sub-Sahara Africa. It will also leverage CNFA’s close proximity to thousands of smallholder farmers in Africa with GSI’s cutting-edge, scalable technologies for grain and perishable storage. GSI, a global brand of AGCO, is a world class manufacturer of grain storage, material handling, conditioning and drying equipment, as well as a full line supplier of swine and poultry production equipment. GSI Group, LLC President Tom Welke and CNFA President and CEO Sylvain Roy released the following statement: “This partnership has the potential to dramatically improve smallholder farmers’ incomes and nutritional status by reducing their post-harvest losses. An alliance between CNFA – a premier agricultural non-profit development
Reports/Articles
What Dimensions of Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Matter for Nutrition in Ghana?
HJL Malapit, AR Quisumbing - Food Policy, 2015
This paper investigates linkages between women’s empowerment in agriculture and the nutritional status of women and children using 2012 baseline data from the Feed the Future population-based survey in northern Ghana. Using a new survey-based index, the women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index, we conduct individual-level analyses of nutrition-related indicators including exclusive breastfeeding, children’s dietary diversity score, minimum dietary diversity and minimum acceptable diet, children’s height-for-age, weight-for-height, and weight-for-age z-scores, and women’s dietary diversity score and body mass index. Results suggest that women’s empowerment is more strongly associated with the quality of infant and young child feeding practices and only weakly associated with child nutrition status. Women’s empowerment in credit decisions is positively and significantly correlated with women’s dietary diversity, but not body mass index. This suggests that improved nutritional status is not necessarily correlated with empowerment across all domains, and that these domains may have different impacts on nutrition
Iodine, Copper, and Zinc Levels as Indices of Nutritional Status among Residents of Wassa West District, a Mining Impacted Region of Ghana, Using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis
BV Samlafo - International Journal of Innovative Research and …, 2015
Human hair and nail samples from fifty volunteers were collected from Wassa West district, a mining impacted region of Ghana, and used as biomarkers of nutritional status. Activation Analysis (INAA) was employed to analyze for levels of iodine, copper and zinc. The mean concentrations of iodine in hair of experimental subjectswas3.34± 0.54µg/g. The control subjects had a mean concentration of 1.21± 0.32µg/g of iodine. These levels were above the ideal level of 1.0µg/g to meet the physiological requirements of the individual. Mean iodine in nails of the experimental subjects was 2.70±0.25µg/g, and that of the control was 1.50±0.12µg/g. Mean Copper levels in hair of experimental subjects were determined to be 28.49±3.40µg/g and the control recorded 15.91±2.15µg/g. Mean copper levels in nail of the experimental subjects was 29.64±1.05µg/g and the control was 19.08±2.21µg/g….
Factors Determining Adoption of New Agricultural Technology by Smallholder Farmers in Developing Countries
M Mwangi, S Kariuki - Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 2015
Agricultural technologies are seen as an important route out of poverty in most of the developing countries. However the rate of adoption of these technologies has remained low in most of these countries. This study aim at shedding some light on the potential factors that influence agricultural technology adoption in developing countries. It does so by reviewing previous studies done on technology adoption. From the study technological, economic, institutional factors and human specific factors are found to be the determinants of agricultural technology adoption. The study recommend the future studies on adoption to widen the range of variables used by including perception of farmers towards new technology.
Rural Agricultural Development through Micro Finance in North-East Region
H Choudhury, A Pegu
Microfinance playing a very vital role towards the upliftment of marginalized section of the rural community in rural India. The impressive success achieved by micro finance in India indicates that it has both bright futures. Recognizing its role as a magic wand in alleviating rural poverty and, in turn, ushering in rural development, the Government of India has been assigning increasing significance to its development. To pay a direct war against poverty the government has introduced 'Self Help Group' (SHG) programmer as a pioneering and active anti-poverty programmer. Socio-economic development as well as macroeconomic and financial sector stability is important apparatus in ensuring an enabling environment for continued growth of overall economy as a whole and the micro finance industry in specific. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is the main initiator of the SHG movement started from 1986-87 in India. Now the various departments of Central and State Governments, Nationalized Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRB), Cooperative Banks and Societies and Non-Government …
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