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Dec 16 |
2011 National Best Farmer pays courtesy call on COCOBOD CEO
Posted by Emmanuel Edem Agbedanu on 16 December 2011 01:05 PM
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The 2011 National best farmer, Mr. Ignatius Agbo, has paid a courtesy call on the Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Mr. Anthony Fofie. In a brief meeting at Cocoa House in Accra, Mr. Fofie said farmers play very important role in the country’s development. He congratulated the National Best Farmer for his hard work which earned him the prestigious best farmer award. He said he had no doubt that, Mr. Agbo’s dedication to cocoa farming contributed to this historic achievement. The National Best Farmer expressed his gratitude to COCOBOD saying his relationship with the Board “dates years back”. He said majority of Ghanaian farmers were old and in order to encourage the younger generation to go into farming, there was the need to develop the rural areas. “The provision of amenities such as potable water, electricity, good roads, good schools and health facilities in the rural areas will motivate the youth to stay back and farm”, he said. According to Mr. Agbo, processing factories for some perishable goods could be established in the rural areas to save farmers from the losses they incur as a result of lack of storage and processing facilities within the farming communities. He bemoaned the menace of illegal mining on cocoa farms, especially in the Western Region. “If nothing is done about illegal mining, very soon, all cocoa farms will turn into galamsey mining sites and this will not only affect the farmers involved but the cocoa industry as a whole”, he added. Mr. Agbo appealed to the Chief Executive to facilitate the rehabilitation of the Zion road in the Upper Dinkyera District to ease the problems farmers face in transporting their produce to the market centres. In his response, Mr. Fofie reiterated COCOBOD’s commitment to farmers’ welfare, saying the Board would continue to assist Government to rehabilitate deplorable roads in cocoa growing areas. He added that from 2012, COCOBOD would facilitate the replanting of cocoa trees with over 20 million cocoa seedlings in all cocoa growing regions countrywide. Read more » | ||
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Dec 14 |
Olam Rewards Cashew Farmers
Posted by Emmanuel Edem Agbedanu on 14 December 2011 12:52 PM
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Olam Ghana Limited, a leading international grower and exporter of cashew in the country, as part of its corporate social responsibility, has honoured cashew farmers in the country by sponsoring the 2011 district best cashew farmers’ awards in two districts in the Brong Ahafo region. Two distinguished cashew farmers from the Jaman North and South Districts in the Sampa Zone, one of the company’s operational areas, won the maiden awards during the 17th National Farmers’ Day celebration. 55-year-old sub-chief, with the stool name Nana Ankamah Febri, Adontenhene of Sebreni, near Drobo, was adjudged the Jaman South District Best Cashew Farmer for the year 2011 which was held at Babianeha, near Japekrom. For his prize, Nana Ankamah Febri was given a brand new motorbike by Olam Ghana Limited. He expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Olam Ghana Limited for instituting the awards, which he noted will encourage other farmers into cashew production. At Jaman North District, Kwame Tawiah, 55, was declared the district’s 2011 Best Cashew Farmer at a colorful event held at Seketia, near Sampa. Mr Tawiah, a resident of Kokoa in the district, also received a brand new motorbike from Olam Ghana Ltd. He told the press that he has been in the cashew business for the past 30 years and gets an average yield of 50 metric tons per annum from his 30-acre cashew farm, announcing plans to expand production in the future. Both events were attended by chiefs, heads of government departments and agencies in the two districts, agriculture officers, local farmers and the general public. Addressing the durbar at Seketia, the Sampa Zonal Head of Olam, Amankwa Yussif, said the company decided to sponsor the award in order to increase cashew production in the country. Mr. Amankwa hinted that Olam Ghana Limited has so many programmes and interventions for farmers in the country to improve their living conditions and urged farmers to embrace these interventions. He also encouraged farmers to do business with Olam for them so as to enjoy the company’s rewarding packages. OLAM Ghana Limited earlier this year expressed readiness to double its current export of 24,000 metric tons annually in order to consolidate its position globally. The company, which has recorded a steady increase in the export of cashew over the last 15 years, also ventured into cotton farming in the Upper West region at the beginning of the season this year. According to management, OLAM Ghana has currently outgrown its competitors in the industry because of its fantastic management team at the helm of affairs. OLAM, which currently employs 13,000 staff directly and indirectly globally, is a fully integrated player in cashew supply chain with presence in 15 producing countries and processing and production facilities in seven countries. The company is the largest processor of cashew in Africa with facilities in Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Nigeria and Mozambique with plans to establish one in Ghana soon. It is also a global supply chain of major agricultural commodities throughout the 60 operational countries with 19 in Africa, delivering 20 products to more than 10,500 customers worldwide. Read more » | ||
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Dec 14 |
Farmerline, Ghanaian app, wins US Climate Change Competition
Posted by Emmanuel Edem Agbedanu on 14 December 2011 12:36 PM
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The U.S. Department of State has announced the West and Central Africa winners of the Apps4Africa: Climate Challenge in Durban, South Africa on December 7, 2011. Apps4Africa consists of three African regional competitions to address local climate change challenges through the development of web-based and mobile applications. The contests build on the outcomes of regional climate change adaptation workshops organized by the Adaptation Partnership, which includes the United States and more than 20 other countries. The winning applications were announced at the U.S. Center at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Durban. The announcement was part of an event highlighting country-driven solutions to climate change adaptation in Africa, demonstrating that the United States is working with partners to bring together practitioners, policy-makers, and African technology innovators to address climate change challenges through programs such as the global Adaptation Partnership and Apps4Africa. First place in the West and Central Africa Apps4Africa went to HospitalManager, a web-based application from Nigeria that will help hospitals prepare for the possibility of more frequent extreme weather events such as storms, floods, and heat waves. Second place went to the EcoFund-Forum, a web-based app from Senegal that helps communities share successful strategies for adapting to local impacts of climate change. The third prize winner was Farmerline, a mobile and web-based app that will help farmers in rural Ghana obtain the information they need to increase yields in the face of changes in the growing season and climate variability. Winners will receive cash prizes. Private partners, including TED and Indigo Trust, are contributing follow-on support. The East Africa Apps4Africa contest concludes December 20, 2011, and winners will be announced in January 2012. The Southern Africa competition runs from February 1, 2012 through March 31, 2012, with winners announced in April. Read more » | ||
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Dec 6 |
When the agric professionals refuse to farm, we make nonsense of education
Posted by Emmanuel Edem Agbedanu on 06 December 2011 04:43 PM
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Farmers Day is here with us again. It’s been celebrated for the last 26 years, and now the 27th celebration is here. Congratulations to all our gallant farmers and various stakeholders who have made the day a success over the years. But as we mark Farmers’ Day this year, one thing that occupies my mind as a student of agriculture, is the lack of enthusiasm among most young people, particularly colleagues of mine, for careers in agricultural production. In Ghana, we have over 60 percent of our population engaged in Agriculture, most of them peasant farmers, growing only a few hectares of land. The larger part of the 60 percent figure are uneducated rural people, who really do not take farming as a business venture, but as a way of life, hence hardly attach the needed diligence required for successful farming operations, and are under performing. But the fact is that the very few educated; industrious, and entrepreneur minded farmers, are doing very well; harvesting thousands of hectares of cash crops, fruits and vegetables for export to the European and American markets. They operate mechanized farms, invest in the services of Extension Officers, install irrigational facilities, and put proper structures in place to prevent post harvest loses, and thus are making good returns on their investments. So how do we create more of this kind of entrepreneurial minded farmers in Ghana? The answer for me is simple, through formal education. But there is a problem. From the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to the University of Ghana, through to several other public and private universities in the country, agriculture is read as a four year degree course. Every year, thousands of graduates with Bsc in Agriculture and related sciences are churned out from the universities. So the question multimillion dollars is, where are all these agric professionals? Unlike those students in Medical School and Law School who have dreams of pursuing professions as doctors and lawyers respectively, several of the young people reading Agriculture in the universities don’t have dreams of pursuing future professions in the Agricultural industry, not to even to say get onto the farm. They have eyes on jobs in the banks, hospitals and elsewhere, and their motivation stems from the fact that there is evidence of scores of Agric professionals who have landed lucrative jobs in these sectors. Be my guest at the Agric faculty at KNUST to interact with some colleagues, and trust me, you would find only a hand full of them who think of a future career in the Agric industry. Some are even shy that they are reading the program, as it’s evident with colleagues reading Agric related courses like Bsc Agric Biotechnology, who would tell you they are not Agriculturalists, but are Biotechnologists. Your guess is as good as mine; they are wrong, and they are living in a world of their own, but you can’t blame them. Right from childhood, working on the farm has been seen as a punitive measure for those who misbehave in school. Their parents encourage them to aim for professions that would see them operate from the banks, and the courts, and the hospitals, and the airlines, claiming such professions carry more pride. They tell them to look out for role models in people like Dr. Mensa Otabil, Data Bank’s Ken Ofori Atta, Journalist Israel Laryea, among others, and forget to point out to them that there are people like National best cocoa farmer Samuel Awuni who they could look up to for inspiration. So we have a situation on our hands where almost every young person in Ghana is shunning agric, including those who are being trained to take up professions in the sector. As if there is any banker or doctor or lawyer who does not owe his or life to the farmer. And agriculture for most people have now become a retirement package, where after illustrious professions in public service, we jump onto to catch some rest ahead of “a call to glory”. But we should all be interested in encouraging young and educated people to get themselves involved in the Agricultural sector if we would ever want to see a wealthier Ghana than we find it now, because there is evidence that productivity on the farm is higher with more young people involved. In the cocoa sector for example, a research by the University of Ghana and University of Sussex for Cadbury International revealed that “there are significant differences in productivity by the age of farmers, with older farmers producing lower yields per acre than younger farmers.” The research also finds that “young and more educated persons were found to work on farms that were more productive than those of older farmers, and were more likely to introduce innovative production methods on the farm.” What exactly accounts for the lack of interest on the part of majority of young people to go into Agriculture may constitute an endless list. There has always been the issue of lack of credit facilities for those willing to go into the agricultural production. Of course, if you would want to do Agriculture and do it well, you would need to make huge investments into heavy machinery for effective mechanization. You would need to turn away from the continued dependence on hoe and cutlass, the rain, and on natural nutrients in the soil for good production, otherwise we would continue to be where we are. There should be a conscious effort on the part of all stakeholders, with government playing the lead role to increase the application of modern science and technology to the development of agriculture in Ghana, so we as a nation can stop importing everything food, because agric in Ghana would not grow by natural forces. But I am convinced that the tables are turning, and that the future looks bright. I am aware of work being done by the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, through the Cadbury Cocoa Ambassadorial program which is using the Young Empowering Young Model to encourage more young people to get involved in cocoa production. I also know of work being done by organizations like Agro Mindset, which aims at re – focusing the minds of young people reading Agriculture and related programs, so they aim at creating their own agriculture related jobs. Then there is the Youth in Agric Program which is recruiting more young people to go into farming. It is my hope that all these interventions by both private and governmental institutions yield a positive return, so we can see more youthful and educated persons engaging in farming and the agric industry in general. When the Agric Professionals refuse to farm, we make nonsense of our educational system. It is true that University education aims at broadening the minds of students so they can pursue their dreams, but I believe the Agric Faculties at our various universities cannot be considered as relevant institutions into which money should continually be pumped, until Agricultural production in Ghana sees some major improvement. Let us invest our skills where our mouths lead to (our stomach). God bless our gallant farmers, and may God bless our homeland Ghana. Read more » | ||
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Dec 6 |
Fishermen fear of possible accident and loss of lives at sea
Posted by Emmanuel Edem Agbedanu on 06 December 2011 04:39 PM
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Though no bodies have been washed on shore, the residents of Discove and Cape Three Points woke up yesterday and found fishes at the beach and some fishing gear, which had been washed on shore. The communities have since started conducting roll calls and sending messages to other fishing communities to find how many of their colleagues had not returned from sea. Correspondent Kweku Owusu Peprah reported that the people are living in fear. The Chief Fisherman of the area, Nana Kweku Dadzie said some fishermen reported receiving threats from vessels which asked them to move back or be pushed. Nana Dadzie said the captains of the vessels boasted of crushing a vessel on the high seas. Officials of the Ghana Maritime Authority have been informed of the incident and have begun investigations. The Environmental Protection Agency meanwhile says it is not aware of the development. Read more » | ||