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May 29 |
Chinese To Invest In Soybean Production
Posted by Emmanuel Edem Agbedanu on 29 May 2012 12:02 PM
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William So, a Chinese business man, has initiated the process to invest in soybean production in the Northern region. For a start, Mr. So will provide resources and engage the Chinese University of Hong Kong to partner with the University of Ghana for technology transfer to develop about 10 varieties of soybean adaptable to the local climate. Mr. So, who is the Managing Director of PowerHouse Global Limited, a telecom resources infrastructure company based in Hong Kong, said the beans to be produced would be sold to local Ghanaian farmers. “Other value-chain opportunities will also be explored,” he said. He disclosed this at a meeting with officials of the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) in Tamale on Friday when he paid a fact-finding visit to the region to acquaint himself with the operations. Mr. So’s interest in the sector was facilitated by Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Head of the Dominion University College in Accra, when they met in London about two years ago. Dr. Spio-Garbrah also accompanied Mr. So when he visited SADA officials, whose main job is to facilitate investment to the savannah regions of the country, to bridge the development gap between the southern and northern parts including parts of Brong Ahafo and Volta. SADA assembled a team of public and private sector stakeholders in agriculture and soybean production to brief Mr. So about how the soybean sector was performing. Mr. So and his delegation earlier met with Moses Bukari Mabengba, Northern Regional Minister at his residence to brief him about their mission in the region. Mr. So said he was looking at investing about one million dollars into the project. Statistics by the Northern Region Office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture showed that soybean production in the region increased from 36,000 tonnes in 2007 to 119,000 tonnes in 2011, with demand always outstripping supply. Soy oil, soy cake and soy milk are some of the products derived from soybean. Mr. So said he chose to invest in Ghana because of her favourable economic climate. He was later taken round some of the fields at Buipe by SADA officials, who were led by its Chief Executive, Dr Gilbert Iddi. Dr. Iddi assured that SADA was ready to provide assistance to ensure the success of the project. Read more » | |
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May 29 |
Ghana seeks IIM-B assistance to become agriculture powerhouse
Posted by Emmanuel Edem Agbedanu on 29 May 2012 08:56 AM
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At a time when top brains passing out of the Indian Institutes of Management are lured into the corporate sector, policy-makers from Ghana have arrived at the IIM-Bangalore to enhance their knowledge on business management to make their country an agriculture powerhouse. The 22-member team comprising MPs, chief executives of districts and directors of agricultural bodies are in the State to participate in a 10-day training programme, which is being held at IIM-B following a request from the International Food Policy Research Institute. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Chairperson of Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Ghana, Alhassen Ahmed Yakubu, said the team of policy-makers are here to imbibe the good practices prevalent in the country. Even though a majority of the delegation are not farmers, they believe that exposure to the agricultural success stories in India would help the policy-makers in taking decisions. With about 60 per cent of Ghana’s population living in rural areas, Yakubu believes that use of information communication technologies (ICT) would help improve agricultural production. He said the government in Ghana is trying to merge two different ministries –– agriculture and local governance –– to ensure that they reap the maximum benefits. However, with urban areas leading in terms of employment generated, Yakubu said the only way to maintain the balance between rural and urban areas is overall development and ensuring that agriculture remains profitable. Yakubu also said that the visit to India had helped the team notice the advantage of using technology in agriculture. He said a few simple gadgets would help immensely in collection of data about food sources. He was also positive that trade between the two countries related to agriculture would increase substantially in the coming years. Citing an example, he said a fertiliser plant was being set up in assistance with India, which he hoped will help both the countries. The team, which was on a visit to Mysore on Friday, earlier visited a seed production facility in Bidadi and would head to HD Kote on Saturday to take a look at the advantages of organic farming. Chairperson of IIM-B Fellow Programme in Management, Prof Gopal Naik, said the delegation was provided training in citizen orientation, public private partnership and providing an enabling environment for policy making. They were also provided information to develop appropriate agriculture business policies. Read more » | |
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May 24 |
Farmers Want Fertiliser Subsidy Restored
Posted by Emmanuel Edem Agbedanu on 24 May 2012 10:29 AM
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The Peasant Farmers of Ghana (PFAG) are reeling from the unavailability of subsidised fertiliser on the market, even as the farming season has begun in earnest and farmers have sown their seeds for the major season. The President of PFAG, Mohammed Nasiru Adam, expressed disappointment at the fact that subsidised fertiliser is unavailable to farmers at this crucial moment when the input is most needed, and poses a threat to attaining food security in Ghana. “As you may be aware, we are at the tail-end of May and farmers have been planting since April; yet there is no sign of subsided fertiliser on the market. Farmers are jittery and anxious, and rightly so.” Mohammed Nasiru Adam said the fact that the only key programme that has yielded significant impact and is hailed by farmers across the length and breadth of the country as the panacea to low crop-yield, which is the subsidised fertiliser programme, is being jettisoned. He noted that the main reason for its introduction was to help farmers increase their rate of fertiliser application as a means of increasing crop productivity and production, as well as increase the current fertiliser application rate to at least 50 kilogrammes per hectare. “This became necessary as statistics showed that Ghana’s fertiliser application rate was one of the lowest in the world, standing at 8 kg/ha compared with 20 kg/ha in sub-Saharan Africa, 99 kg/ha in Latin America, 109 kg/ha in South Asia and 140 kg/ha in East and South East Asia.” This low application, he noted, was attributed to amongst other things the high level of poverty among small-scale farmers, low profit-margin, and high cost of fertilisers. The PFAG President said the subsidised fertiliser programme faces a number of challenges which threaten its sustainability and effectiveness. Key among which are: the high price of the input; when the fertiliser finally gets to the farmer late or in the middle of the season it is no more useful to crops; as well as the delay in releasing funds to fertiliser importers for consistent supply. Read more » | |
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May 21 |
Ghana choking from Cocoa price drop on World market
Posted by Rahilu Iddrisu on 21 May 2012 09:54 AM
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Projected revenues from cocoa exports for 2012 are set to drop significantly as Ghana begins to suffer from the plummeting cocoa prices on the world market. This is according to COCOBOD as a result of downward trend of cocoa prices on the world market which is affecting revenues from the sale of the commodity. Earlier this week, there were wire reports that Ghana’s first quarter earnings from cocoa had shrunk by over 6 percent already. In an interview with Citi Business News, the Chief Executive of COCOBOD Tony Fofie expressed fear about the impact of the continuous fall of cocoa prices on the world market on Ghana’s economy. He said “initially we did a forecast which was in the region of 3,000 dollars per ton and now we know how much we are getting on the world market, it is between 2,100 – 2,100 dollars per ton. “We believe that this is an area for concern for all Ghanaians because the revenues that we’re going to get cannot be measured to what we had last year. That is something that we should be worried about. “If you’re looking at what we’re going to get, it’s a combination of the volumes production and pricing so if the volumes are going up and the prices go down, we may have a problem.” Read more » | |
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May 21 |
Poultry farmers accuse gov't of sabotage
Posted by Rahilu Iddrisu on 21 May 2012 09:38 AM
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Ghanaian poultry farmers have bemoaned government’s delay in releasing imported maize onto the market to control the increasing price of the commodity. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture imported 15,000 metric tons of yellow maize three months ago to augment local stock, but according to poultry farmers, the consignment is still locked up in warehouses at Kpong in Greater Accra. According to the Chairman of Poultry Farmers Association, Kojo Asante, members of his association have been compelled by the situation to buy poultry feed at very exorbitant prices. In an interview with Nhyira FM’s Ohemeng Tawiah, Kojo Asante said their plight has been communicated to the Office of the Chief of Staff, the Ministry of Finance among others, yet, nothing has been done. Kojo Asante accused the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of deliberately crippling the poultry industry by hoarding the feed. He said the ministry has also looked on unconcerned as imported frozen chicken take over their broiler business. The Chairman of Poultry Farmers Association said if government refusal to release the maize is a ploy to sabotage their egg business, then they will advise themselves accordingly. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture last year received support from the Agriculture Development Bank to start importation of the maize to boost the local poultry industry. Read more » | |