tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39974548872435971852024-03-12T19:17:46.035-07:00AGRIPAGES GHANA A blog that discusses, comments and presents information on Agriculture issues in the Ghanaian economy from a radio station perspectiveagripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-13033719823961609862015-06-19T16:10:00.000-07:002015-06-19T16:10:01.774-07:00Press statement on Ebola Vaccine Trials<blockquote></blockquote>
PRESS STATEMENT BY
GHANA ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES ON
PROPOSED PHASE II CLINICAL TRIAL OF A
GHANA ACADEMY VACCINE FOR EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE IN GHANA OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
n January this year, the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences became
aware, from a newspaper report, that a clinical trial for an Ebola Virus IDisease (EVD) vaccine was due to start in Ghana before the end of March.
Given the uncertainties about the nature of the Ebola virus and risks in clinical
trials, the Academy set up a 5-person Technical Committee made up of
Fellows of the Academy to undertake an urgent review of the matter and
report to the Academy. In its preliminary report, the Committee noted,
among other things, that the proposal before the Food and Drugs Authority
(FDA) was for a Phase II clinical trial of an Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) vaccine,
developed by GlaxoSmithKline/US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Such
an undertaking must be preceded by a thorough evaluation of the available
data, and the application subjected to the appropriate procedures. On the
basis of its preliminary investigation and study, the Committee
recommended a second look at the design of the study; a review of the basis
for the selection of Ebola-unaffected countries like Ghana; and, because
some Ghanaians have anti-bodies to the adenovirus, a fuller understanding
of the adenovirus vector used in the development of the test vaccine.
In discharge of the Academy's mandate to provide independent science-
based advice for policy making, the Council of the Academy asked the
President of the Academy to bring these concerns urgently to the attention
of the Minister of Health. This was immediately done, attaching a copy of the
preliminary report of the Committee and confirming the Academy's
preparedness to provide all necessary support to the Ministry in dealing with
this critical matter. After some delay, the newly-appointed Minister of Health
convened a meeting on June 03, at which the concerns and issues raised by
the Academy were discussed with the technical staff of the Ministry of
Health (MOH), the Food and Drugs Authority and its expert advisors, as well
as the Principal Investigators in the GSK/NIH Phase II trials.
The main concerns raised by the Technical Committee of the Academy relate
to the following:
1. Major uncertainties about
a. the nature and origins of the Ebola virus, including the
circumstances of its appearance in Guinea,
b. whether the Zaire strain of the virus, which is the one being
used in the GSK vaccine to be tested in Ghana, is the strain
responsible for the Ebola epidemics in Liberia, Mali,
Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone, and
c. the identity and characteristics of other strains of the Ebola
virus that might exist;
2. The use in the GSK/NIH vaccine of a gene particle of the wild species
of the Zaire Ebola virus, rather than the gene particle of the Makona
strain isolated in the epidemic in Guinea;
3. What pre-clinical animal experimentations had been carried out
with a vaccine based on the Makona strain to establish evidence of
safety, immunogenicity and protection;
4. What basis is there for expecting that immune responses generated
against the wild type Zaire Ebola virus GSK vaccine formulation
(construct), with a live non-replicating chimpanzee adenovirus
carrying a gene from Zaire Ebola virus, would be effective against
the Makona strain or any other Ebola virus species and strains;
5. After a test vaccine has been shown in the vaccinated individual to
produce an immune response (immunogenicity), what guarantee
would there be, in this instance, that the vaccine would offer
protection against the full Zaire Ebola virus and other species and
strains;
6. On the basis of research conducted so far towards vaccine
development, what is the likelihood of the present construct of
vaccines protecting communities against the rapid emergence of
new, more virulent strains of the virus, as appears to have happened
with the Makona: the risk of false confidence deriving from the use
of a new vaccine must be noted;
7. What assurances do we have that the chimpanzee-derived live
adenovirus vector used in the GSK vaccine construct, although non-
replicating for now, will remain dormant and not itself cause a
disease to compromise the health of the people of Ghana;
8. It is to be noted that the application for the GSK Ebola vaccine Phase
II trial in Ghana includes children, even though the Phase I trial in the
US, UK, Mali and Switzerland was limited to adults, raising the
question of dosage profiles for children and other vulnerable
groups in the Phase II trial;
9. What evidence is there of strict compliance with the The
International Committee on Harmonization Protocol Guidelines for
Clinical Trials, including full “informed consent” by all volunteers.
It was confirmed at the above-mentioned meeting between the President
and Technical Committee of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, and
staff of the MOH, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and its expert
advisors, and the Principal Investigators in the GSK/NIH Phase II trial, that the
processes for the approval of the Phase II clinical trial of the GSK Ebola Virus
Disease test vaccine had not been concluded. Our firm understanding was
that the approval process will continue to take into account the concerns and
issues raised by the Academy.
In the course of the meeting, it was mentioned approval had already been
given to an application for a separate Phase I trial in Hohoe, of a test vaccine
with a different construct from the GSK test vaccine, which latter had been
the focus of concern of the Academy. This came as a shock to the Academy
representatives at the meeting, as nothing had been said anywhere
previously about a separate Phase I clinical trial application, let alone its
approval. The Academy's representatives therefore refused to discuss that
matter.
However, it is to be noted that the Phase I trial of the GSK vaccine in Europe
produced an adverse event, namely, prolonged bleeding, in 10% - 15% of
the vaccinated population. This is a serious adverse event that calls for
extreme caution in approving clinical trials, both Phase I and Phase II, in the
country.
Moreover, it is the case that those vaccinated at Phase I and Phase II may be
shedding the adenovirus vector into the surrounding community. In the
absence of a map of adenovirus prevalence in the trial sites, there is a high
risk of an 'escape virus' merging with the endemic adenoviruses to create
more virulent strains.
For that reason alone it is important that the exposed communities and,
indeed, the general public be adequately informed of such trials and their
benefits and risks.
In conclusion, the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences wishes to state its
firm position that, subject to satisfactory answers to the issues it has raised,
and considering the gaps in our knowledge and state of preparedness, it
would be unsafe to undertake the proposed EVD vaccine clinical trials
in Ghana.
The Academy affirms its availability to help the Ministry of Health, the Food
and Drugs Authority (FDA) and other parties involved in the approval
process to arrive at sound, independent decisions on this and other critical
matters facing the country.
[The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, with a membership of 111
Fellows drawn from all fields of learning, has from its inception in 1959 been
charged with a key role in thought leadership and making inputs into
policymaking through research and evidence-based advice. Over the years
efforts have been made, and continue to be made, to re-profile the
Academy in the light of changing conditions]
Issued by the Honorary Secretary, Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences,
#1 CSIR Close, Liberation Link, Airport Residential Area
12 June 2015agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-69718311645593572292015-05-26T02:42:00.002-07:002015-05-26T02:42:49.119-07:00QUESTIONS ON MY MIND THIS MORNING
I was also wondering about the cultivation and export of cassava chips. Wondering if its still a high priced commodity as it used to be back in the day. Do you know of any form of assistance offered to agri-business and how one can access it? Do you also know how to go into Nutmeg cultivation and would be glad to get some information on persons already into its cultivation. THis is what is trending on my pages and people are asking. I ask you guys to broaden your horizon on and think about questions that people will be interested in asking. Is there an Agric information bureau in Ghana? Do you guys know how to get information on Agric in Ghana?agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-32382176955808513612015-05-17T05:07:00.001-07:002015-05-17T05:07:13.649-07:00Agric extension policy framework under review
Very well spoken by the Director of Agric. My question is why the decentralization system of the MOFA has not been effective so far. People are afraid to take decisions because of too much power given to people in authority who also do not take the decisions. Each time someone has to take a decision they have to cross-check or you have to write a letter or proposal before you are given the green light. So many students are sitting at home who can be used to support extension work. We need to be bold as a country and solve the problems in the field not at workshops. Too much talking and very little action. What is being done should be visible and understood by all. Most of all by the farmers who are actually going about their everyday livelihoods......FARMING. They need the support not the talk.
There are so many young people losing interest in farming because it is just too much work even trying to get land to start a farm. Too much work trying to get financing to start a farm.. what is all the plenty talk about.
Dr. Kwame Amezah, Director, Directorate Agriculture Extension Services (DAES), has observed that considering the current decentralisation system of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), steps must be taken and all efforts harnessed to ensure efficient coordination at all levels and ensure effectiveness and sustainability.
“It is therefore believed that if local governments take responsibility for extension, as they are closest to the grassroots, farmers’ needs could be better met. This is on the basis that extension staff are localised, conversant with farmers’ needs, and will be able to facilitate extension activities more effectively.”
Dr. Amezah, who read the keynote address on behalf of the Chief Director of MOFA, Mr. Joseph Boamah, at a two-day Agriculture Extension Policy Forum this week in Accra, said DAES has played significant roles through various initiatives such as Training and Visits (T&V), Participatory Technology Development and extension (PTD&E) and Farmer Field Schools among others, in empowering farmers to carry out their farming activities in a more effective, business-like and sustainable manner.
He said the subsistence nature of most Ghanaian and African farming, and the cost of extension services, leads to a much stronger case for state intervention in support of food production. He stated that the need for a well-articulated and comprehensive Agricultural Extension Policy cannot be glossed over.
“It is the bedrock on which the development and advancement of the agricultural extension can be well defined, approaches and functions well spelt-out; and the importance of such a policy is further buttressed by a statement made by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations’ (FAO) Consultation on Agricultural Extension (GCAE) held in Rome in December 1989, where it was recommended that all national governments should develop and periodically review their agricultural extension policy.”
Amezah noted that issues such as geographical coverage, target beneficiaries, staffing, funding and sustainability will be easy to examine and address if such a framework exists.
He however added that global and regional experiences suggest that extension services are demand-based and market-driven, incorporating private sector as well as government and non-governmental resources.
The forum was a collaboration of MOFA, the Modernising Extension and Advisory Services (MEAS) Project and the USAID/Ghana Feed the Future Agriculture Policy Support Project (APSP), and was aimed at creating a platform for stakeholders from the public, private and civil society sectors to come together and share experiences and expertise toward making efforts at improving agricultural extension delivery in the country.
MEAS is operated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States of America, with funding from the USAID. The MEAS project has been approved for a multi-part work-plan to work toward strengthening extension and advisory services for farmers in northern Ghana.
APSP aims to increase capacity for the Government of Ghana, the private sector and civil society organisations to implement evidence-based policy formation, implementation, research and advocacy; and perform rigorous monitoring and evaluation of agricultural programmes implemented under the Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (METASIP).
Dr. Paul McNamara, Director of MEAS, said before the break-up session that policy is central to extension and that MEAS has been working to strengthen agriculture extension services over the past five years in the country, and is consequently interested in the policy framework for extension services.
agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-13475645464525651862015-05-17T04:46:00.003-07:002015-05-17T04:46:58.047-07:00Govts should invest more in Agriculture
This story below is culled from the DAILY SABAH.
The story intrigues me because one can liken the same situation in a lot of African countries where Govts always seem to exaggerate what is happening or specifically their achievements in the Agric sector. They do not invest much and yet expect a lot. They use all the wrong or outmoded policies yet expect it to work. Subsidies that must go out to help farmers are usually not given because donors say so and where they are, they are either provided very late or at the wrong time. I see from the statistics provided that TURKEY IS EVEN DOING MUCH BETTER THAN MOST AFRICAN COUNTRIES AND AT LEAST THEY HAVE DATA THAT IS READILY AVAILABLE. Food production really should be one of the main concerns of any Govt and leaving it to chance cannot be the way to food security. I was invited recently to a forum and the minister of Agric walked in and didn't even look at products that Ghanaians had displayed....He was rather interested in the foreign products of the other country. Agriculture should really be left for farmers, the experts, researchers etc. and not politicians
Although officials have been talking about a major leap forward in agricultural production in Turkey since the ruling party first came to power, the recent plummeting of food prices indicates that the country's agriculture is besieged by many problems.
Mehdi Eker, minister of food, agriculture and animal husbandry, recently boasted that Turkey ranks seventh in the world in terms of agricultural production, but the picture is not as rosy as the minister would have us believe. A recent statement by a leading representative of the agricultural sector reveals that the government must change its agricultural policy.
In the statement, released at the beginning of the past week, the Chamber of Agricultural Engineers (ZMO) said: “As a result of agricultural policies that the [ruling] AK Party [Justice and Development Party] government has persistently sustained in accordance with [norms set by] global powers, our farmlands have shrunk by around 2.7 million hectares over the last 10 years. The amount of land that our farmers have given up to cultivate is about the size of the European country of Belgium.”
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu boasted at a meeting of the Turkish Union of Agricultural Chambers (TZOB) last weekend that Turkey is Europe's biggest agricultural producer, with the revenue from its agricultural production last year having reached $61.3 billion.
Eker pointed out, in a May 14 statement issued on the occasion of World Farmers' Day, that the government would give farmers a total of TL 10 billion ($3.8 billion) in subsidies this year.
But the government has been much criticized by the opposition, which says that if the subsidies offered to farmers had been sufficient, they would not have stopped cultivating a significant portion of the country's land.
The agricultural subsidies provided by the government to farmers amounts to about one-half of 1 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), but it should really be as high as 1 percent, according to a law on agriculture introduced in 2007.
“The subsidies provided to agriculture in 2014 should have [actually] been TL 17 billion. You are entitled to bigger [subsidies],” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), told farmers' representatives at last weekend's TZOB meeting.
He suggested that the farmers would win their case if they were to take the issue to court, underlining that the financial aid transferred in subsidies to the sector is well below what it should be.
The country's agricultural exports, valued at around $4 billion in 2002 when the ruling AK Party came to power, increased to $18 billion last year.
Minister Eker also stressed in his statement that Turkey has become a net exporter of food, but the country's imports in agriculture have also skyrocketed.
According to the CHP leader, who said farmers were paid TL 9 million ($3.5 billion) in subsidies in 2014, Turkey paid TL 350 billion ($135 billion) in imports in food and agricultural products.
Noting that Turkey last year paid TL 44 billion ($17 billion) for imports in food and agricultural products, the CHP leader said at the meeting: “This is exactly five times higher than the subsidies [for 2014]. If Turkey had been governed intelligently, this picture would be in reverse.”
“If they [the government] had paid half this amount to farmers [in subsidies], I assure you that we could have raised enough food to sustain not only Turkey but also the Middles East,” the CHP leader explained.
The yearly cost of Turkey's agricultural imports has risen more than four times since the AK Party came to power in 2002, suggesting that the country's performance with regard to self-sufficiency in agricultural production is on the decline.
While the amount of money Turkey paid for imported agricultural products was $1.69 billion during 2002, it totaled $8.62 billion between April 2014 and March 2015, rising by a dramatic 409 percent.
Turkey's imports in food products last year reached more than $5.6 billion, Şemsi Kopuz, the president of the Federation of Food and Drink Industry Associations of Turkey (TGDF), said at a press meeting last month.
According to official data, Turkey imported agricultural products from 153 countries in 2014. Bahrain, Belize, Cambodia, Djibouti, the Dominican Republic, Iceland, Jamaica, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Qatar, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Surinam, Venezuela and Zambia are among the countries which have been added as import partners of Turkey for agricultural products over the years.
The sharp hike in recent months in the prices of certain food products, which is not surprising given that farmers have given up farming a sizable portion of land in the past 10 years, also indicates problems waiting to be resolved in agriculture.
Unusually high potato prices -- as much as TL 5 ($1.9) a kilogram -- have made the news at various times in Turkey this year. The government pins the blame on speculators, vowing that it would fight against the stockpiling of food. Potato prices have as much as tripled since last year. Stockpiling is generally conducted by middlemen who withhold large quantities of produce, only to release it on the market when prices increase.
The opposition also indicates that the share of agriculture in national product has diminished by half since the ruling party came to power.agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-81182667272974493082015-04-17T10:01:00.001-07:002015-04-17T10:04:19.779-07:00South Africa: Fear Grips Foreigners in Johannesburg
<i>
<i>Lord help us....is this the Africa Kwame nkrumah envisaged. Did we not use our hard earned money to support their freedom and independence so that we could unite and be one. What a shame. I hope that these South Africans doing this realize that their citizens are also foreign nationals in other countries. It is indeed a very sad moment for Africa. President Zuma yes! not all south Africans are xenophobic but this situation could have been better managed if you paid more attention to the plight of the indigenous South Africans who are doing all of this because of the hardship they are going through and think that foreigners have taken over their jobs. a lesson to all African leaders. stop stealing our money and enriching yourselves and rather raise the standard of living of the suffering masses in your countries.
</i>
<b>Story from Al Jazeera</b>
Twelve people have been arrested, with anti-foreigner attacks in South Africa spreading to parts of Johannesburg's commercial hub, according to South African police.
Police fired rubber bullets into a crowd of South Africans in the city's Jeppestown area on Friday.
A crowd of South Africans carrying hammers and axes gathered near the city centre, chanting "Foreigners must leave."
The arrests, made overnight, came as groups of South Africans who had gathered in Jeppestown and Cleveland blocked roads with rocks and burning tyres and then ordered foreigners to leave the country, police said.
Jeppestown and Cleveland are neighbourhoods adjoining the Johannesburg Central Business District (CBD).
A number of shops in the CBD were reported to have been looted and vandalised, further escalating tensions between foreigners and South Africans in Johanneburg.
Police said the suspects were trying to break into shops owned by foreigners.
Colonel Dlamini, police spokesperson, told Al Jazeera calm had been restored, but refused to reveal whether police had received credible reports of further threats of violence against foreigners in the city.
Violence targeting immigrants started earlier in April in the port city of Durban, claiming the lives of six people so far.
Rumours circulating
Rumours of imminent attacks on foreigners have continued to affect foreign nationals in Johannesburg.
Ahmed Fifa, a 35-year-old shop owner in the Ramaphosa settlement east of Johannesburg, said foreign nationals were warned by locals to vacate the area on Thursday night.
"One of the community leaders came to us and told us to move all our stuff and save our lives," he said.
According to Fifa, the South Africans in Ramaphosa are divided between those who seek to protect foreigners and those intent on violently driving foreigners out.
"I can't go back until the situation remains stable," Fifa said. "I have seen the pictures of what happened in Durban and I need to save my life.
"The only problem we have here is the xenophobia."
In Durban, where six people have been killed in the last two weeks of violence against immigrants, police spokesperson Jay Naicker a fragile calm had been maintained on Friday.
"Overnight we had no reported incidents and it has been calm," Naicker said, adding that the police had not received reports of further threats against immigrants in coastal city.
He said foreigners would still not be re-integrated into the affected communities.
"The area is still tense and the police and security deployment will remain for a while," Naicker said.
Amir Sheikh, the chairperson of the Somali Community Board based in Johannesburg said the violence in Durban has inflamed tensions between South Africans and foreigners.
"Some of our members have been harassed in Johannesburg following the violence in Durban."
Late on Thursday a widely disseminated text message claimed that "a train of Zulus" had departed for Johannesburg. "These men are armed and they are going to be killing any foreigner they meet tomorrow."
The source of these messages remains unclear, but their proliferation has sowed panic and confusion among migrant communities.
"Our members have been unable to go about their day-to-day businesses because each time they open their businesses, a new message is received saying members of a certain ethnic group are gathering to attack them," Sheikh said.
While these rumours have so far, proven to be false, its effects have already been felt.
Foreign owned stores around Johannesburg have been closed for at least two days already.
"The unfounded rumours have caused more damage to our members than anything else," Sheikh said.
On Thursday South African President Jacob Zuma and leaders of the opposition in parliament spoke out against the violence against foreign nationals.
Zuma said that the majority of South Africans were not xenophobic.
"We reiterate our view that South Africans are generally not xenophobic," he said.
"If they were, we would not have such a high number of foreign nationals who have been successfully integrated into communities all over our country, in towns, cities and villages."
This story from Al Jazeera was supplied to AllAfrica under an agreement with the African Media Agency.<a href="http://http://allafrica.com/stories/201504171553.html"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://allafrica.com/download/pic/main/main/csiid/00300113:762cb5f2f969e4a583eb2adc8b0257ba:arc614x376:w285:us1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://allafrica.com/download/pic/main/main/csiid/00300113:762cb5f2f969e4a583eb2adc8b0257ba:arc614x376:w285:us1.png" /></a></div></a>agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-2320529155732551412015-04-17T03:24:00.004-07:002015-04-17T03:33:06.518-07:00Xenophobic attacks in South AfricaDisappointed about what is happening in South Africa....the xenophobic attitude and the gruesome attack and murder is just simply shocking!!!!. What is happening in Africa! have some of these countries forgotten how these same people coming from other countries came to their aid in the darkest periods? They contributed massively to their freedom and independence. I am indeed very saddened
<b>Source: Rainbow Radio 87.5fm</b>
An appeal has been made to the Government of Ghana headed by his Excellency President John Dramani Mahama to as a matter of urgency evacuate the thousands of Ghanaians domiciled in South Africa.
Some members of the Ghanaian Community in that Country who expressed fear and frustration said their lives are in danger due to attacks by locals.
The International media has since Monday reported of xenophobic attacks by some youth of South Africa on other African Nationals in some parts of the country.
The reason for theattacks is that foriegners seeking greener pastures have taken over their jobs.
Speaking to Kwame Tutu, breakfast show host of Rainbow Radio 87.5fm from Johannesburg, a number of Ghanaians who said they have gathered and locked themselves up in one house, made a passionate appeal to the government to help get them out of the country.
Asked if they have tried contacting the Ghana High Commission in South Africa, the Ghanaians caught in the troubles said little is done by the Commission to support Ghanaians who find themselves in any kind of trouble.
Heart wrenching photos and videos of the attacks are trending on various social media platforms.
agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-89994839884185283402015-02-10T04:35:00.003-08:002015-02-10T04:37:10.614-08:00The future of Agriculture
From the story below one cannot help but think that there is a much bigger picture than this where the future of Agriculture in our country is really at risk. Is there a future for the Next generation of innovative farmers? Yes! the reasons below might be a huge factor in the region being spoken about but on...but at the National level the youth are losing interest in farming because its nor rewarding. There is no plan to keep those young farmers who are struggling now and certainly no plan to make those in school now even keen about farming. What are the national plans? In other developed countries serious efforts are made to protect farmers, guarantee their products, there are subsidy's, there is a financial and insurance plan. Our Govt is simply too slow and doesn't seem to have any clear plan that one can follow that assures up and coming young ones that farming can guarantee your future. I pray that our leaders begin to look carefully at this aspect if we want to ensure continuity and the future of farming and food production sustainability.
Miss Victoria Adongo, a Programme Coordinator of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), on Thursday urged peasant farmers, especially young farmers in the Western Region, not to abandon their farms and fishing, for menial jobs in the oil industry.
She said the region could experience food insecurity because of the rush investors were buying arable lands for estate development and fish output had decreased as a result of the oil rig.
Miss Adongo made the call at a day's civil society analysis workshop on the 2015 budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector, organized by the PFAG, with support from the Open Society Initiative in West Africa (OSIWA) in Takoradi.
She appealed to farmers and district departments of Agriculture, to promote small-scale Agriculture in their areas, and to ensure District Assemblies make adequate budgetary allocation for their development.
In a press release signed by Mr. Charles Nyaaba, a Programme Coordinator of PFAG, the Association appeal to government to place a moratorium on the passage of the Plant Breeders’ Bill, while creating the platform for small-scale farmers and other stakeholders to address public concerns on the Bill.
The Association urged government to ensure that the Bio-safety Authority is put in place, to actively monitor the activities of the National Bio-safety Committee public.
“We call for direct dialogue between the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs and the PFAG to address the concerns of small scale farmers including the traditional rights to select, store and share seeds”, it said.
The Association said if its plea is not heeded by Parliament, it would continue to use all legal opportunities available to make its position known to the Ghanaian citizenry.
“We will have no option than to call on farmers, traditional authorities, faith-based organizations, civil society organizations and consumers in general, to draw their attention on the dangers in passing the Plant Breeders’ Bill as it stands”.agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-26245942952571596142014-12-11T04:11:00.000-08:002014-12-11T04:11:39.172-08:00#Owuraku Asamoah – A Radio Gem In The Eastern RegionI needed to share this with you all. Over the last one year Owuraku Asamoah, has worked very hard on this STAR Ghana project and has ensured the project maintained focus and pushed everyone working with him to become successful. He has made all of us at Rite Fm very proud by ensuring that his leadership on this project has gained recognition not only for himself but the institution as a whole. Honesty, hardwork and determination are a few of his traits and it has played a key role in making him one of the outstanding presenters and managers of #Rite90.1Fm certainly paid of. We are grateful to #STAR GHana for giving us the opportunity and #SocioServe GHana our partner on the project for being our back bone
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<a href="http://http://www.flexghana.com/index.php/events/item/2627-owuraku-asamoah-%E2%80%93-a-radio-gem-in-the-eastern-region"></a>
Some radio presenters outside the Greater Accra Region are doing marvelously well but have not been in the limelight. A presenter of that ilk is Owuraku Asamoah who is known in private life as Emmanuel Asamoah.
Owuraku has been working with Somanya – based Rite 90.1 FM since 2004 as a talk show host with no professional journalistic background. “I grew up in Koforidua from Christ Preparatory to Church of Christ Mission to Saint Peter's Anglican to Koforidua Secondary Technical School then to Kumasi Polytechnic to do Civil Engineering but spent the first nine years of my life in Asesewa, the capital of Upper Manya. In short, I am a Civil Engineer doing radio and I have no regrets,” he told Flex newspaper.
Owuraku added that he feels 'paid' and fulfilled when he is able to impact what he has onto others and to bring relief and development to lives in the rural setting. In August 2012, The George Atkins Communications awarded him in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Farm Radio International which took him to Arusha, Tanzania through Kenya and at the same time attended an AGRA conference with Kofi Annan.
“Twice, I have been in Berlin to cover the Fruit Logistica and a documentary I did for the trip when I met Ghana's Ambassador to Germany won my station an award for promoting rural enterprise this year,” Owuraku added. He has also managed Rite FM which according to him is the best Radio Station in the Eastern region for more than three years and won several awards in their focus.
Aside all these feats, Owuraku Asamoah has done developmental journalism where with support from STAR Ghana, hosted a political debate for about four constituencies in the 2012 general elections, has done work on maternal health and just finished with another on education and has been able to push ten basic schools in Yilo Krobo to move from zero percent zone in their current BECE.
On the Morning Ride, which he hosts, they have pushed for roads to be constructed, water sent to those without water, people who hitherto did not have electricity now have it and markets have been constructed for certain communities in the region. “We have prodded the police to get criminals arrested to make the place safe for all,” he noted.
“I am happy when people call to tell me there's a problem somewhere and they want me to address it. Well, I now have a new job with Rite FM as a Programs Director which I am trying to get used to with the passage of time. I have gotten to where I am in life because of God and my family and some great friends and I am ever grateful to anyone who has been a part of my success story,” he concluded.
Owuraku is undoubtedly one of the best morning show presenters in the Eastern Region and his contributions to the communities he serves tell it all. Tune in to the Morning Ride every weekday from 7am to 10am and get into the world of Owuraku Asamoah. His name is Asamoah – Owuraku Asamoah!!!
FLEX NEWSPAPERagripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-87731092103811566822014-12-09T15:19:00.003-08:002014-12-09T15:19:32.683-08:00
This is such an interesting Piece I needed to share it with you all.
By Kwesi Atta Sakyi
With the spotlight now on the critical issue of climate change due to global warming, it has become highly imperative to critically examine the issues of food security, and evaluate our agricultural practices in Ghana. There is the controversial issue of the Plant Breeders’ Bill relating to accepting Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) or scientifically engineered seeds in Ghana. The bill seems to have been laid to rest after much media kerfuffle.
What is essential is to consider the bio-ethics and the sustainability of such ‘cloned’ seeds. Many eye-brows have been raised against the impropriety of such underhand methods of the foreign proponents of GMOs, because they seek to create a dependency syndrome with high economic and financial implications so that we have no capacity to have ownership of our own indigenous seeds, as we will willy-nilly perpetually have to import all seeds from abroad. Is that another form of neocolonialism or economic imperialism?
Our Ghanaian economy has long been characterized by heavy import-orientation, and an equal outward-orientation strategy of exporting unprocessed commodities, among others. This has robbed us of much needed extra foreign exchange, because of little value-addition to our exports. We export raw coffee and cocoa beans, cashew nuts, kola nuts, pineapples, and bananas.
We also export unprocessed timber, bauxite, gold, diamonds, manganese, and lately, crude oil and gas. The annual food import bill is colossal indeed in Ghana. It is all our fault of acquiring insatiable desire for foreign foods such as turkey tails, apples, grapes, cheese, ham, sausages, cornflakes, canned foods, among others. Yet in Ghana, we have our own vintage delicacies such as apapransa, kose, esaato, boodooo or abolo, epitsi, kaakro, tatale, koobi, you name it.
The Indians, Chinese, and Japanese are all self-sufficient in their domestic food needs, and they eat what they grow themselves as they are highly insular and patriotic. Our President, His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama, has called on Ghanaians to patronize made in Ghana goods. This is a clarion call to us all to go back to basics. Dr Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, has been very vociferous in campaigning hard to bring the issue of food security to the agenda and policy arena of African governments at the least opportunity. IFAD, an agency of the UN and World Bank, based in Rome, is equally helping small scale farmers in Africa with loans and other farm inputs.
We in Ghana should realize that reliance on mining will not take us far because minerals are diminishing assets, and are also called robber economy. Gold, diamonds, bauxite, and manganese have been mined for more than a century in Ghana yet we still see no benefits to the local communities where these minerals are extracted. Ghana as a whole has not benefitted as much as those in say South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia, who have benefitted from their natural endowments. Why? Is it because our leaders negotiated poorly at the outset, or because we lack discipline in the use of the mineral royalties and proceeds? Is there a cartel among us who receive the proceeds into their foreign accounts?
However, agriculture is the oldest profession, and it will continue to be the bedrock and mainstay of our economy, because we depend on it for our livelihood. It becomes imperative for us therefore to pay particular attention to agriculture in Ghana, as our population is growing at 2.4% per annum. The Malthusian spectre of Doomsday stares us starkly in the face. We will need also to overcome natural calamities in agriculture such as floods, droughts, bush fires, locusts, army worms, crop diseases such as black boll weevil, capsid bug, iron-rust, among others.
It is estimated in some quarters that the annual cost of importing rice in Ghana is about 500 million dollars; such a stupendous sum, and needless frittering away of our scarce foreign exchange. This excludes incalculable foreign exchange expended on importing other food items such as sugar, flour, frozen meats and fish, dairy items, fruits, among others. Have we become dumping grounds for cheap and highly-subsidised agricultural outputs from other climes and countries? What is the use of a nation which cannot feed itself?
It is cardinal that we pay particular attention to livestock production in Ghana as we have a huge protein deficit in that area. We also need to beef up arable farming, fish farming, hydroponics, aquaculture, and drip-irrigation. We learn on authority that our fish stocks in the Atlantic Ocean are fast depleting due to uncontrolled plastic pollution, discharge of toxic industrial and domestic effluents into the sea, mass rape of the sea resources by huge foreign trawlers which prowl our seas at random and with abandon, among other causes.
Ghana is fortunately located near the Equator, with two rainfall regimes in a year caused by convectional currents, orographic or relief rainfall, and seasonal monsoon rains. Cyclonic rain is rare in the tropics because they are restricted to the temperate regions where we have occluded fronts and a lot of atmospheric instability. Our agriculture is based on rain-fed agriculture, which makes it risky and dicey because of extreme changes in weather patterns.
The Ghana government, over the years, has improved the lot of farmers by increasing producer prices of cocoa and other cash crops. It has also assisted cash crop farmers to cheaply access farm inputs such as spraying equipment, chemicals, hybrid seeds accessed from the Ghana Seed Company, farm extension services, and marketing outfits such as the produce buying agencies, and scholarship schemes for farmers’ children through COCOBOD. It has also funded research in agriculture in places such as the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) at Akyem Tafo, Bunso, Kwadaso, Mpraeso, Nalerigu, among others
Farmers have also been incentivized by organizing farm shows to showcase our farm products, and to afford opportunity to award best farmers. Our farmers have received subsidized farm inputs such as weedicides, fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, farm machinery, among others from the government. However, the biggest hurdle for our farmers is at the tail-end or downstream part in the supply chain, in the form of well-structured marketing of farm produce.
Many a time, food surplus areas face glut or surfeit of output, with no immediate connection to the food deficit areas, due to poor rural roads, poor storage and preservation facilities, high cost of transportation, lack of information, low market capacity, among other obstacles. This is why our subsistence farmers need to form critical mass cooperatives in order to ease access to the market, and to reduce marketing and transactions costs.
We need structured markets for our farmers so that they can derive optimum revenue for their sweat. The high fluctuations in the business of agriculture has led to some theories being put forward such as the hog cycle, or the explosive and convergent cobweb cycles. To even out such uncertainties and supply-side shocks, interventions are recommended such as having a buffer stock system, and using price targets or minimum price interventions, which are set within a band, around the equilibrium market price, with price ceilings and price-floors.
Our farmers should be spared the spectre of seeing their crops rotting or being bought at give-away prices. Our peasant farmers who engage in subsistence farming should be assisted by the use of IT/IS to have easy connectivity with the markets for easy sale of their produce, especially to those in the urban areas. Rather than empowering our farmers, we find intermediaries in the supply chain who become better off at the expense of farmers. The escalation of food prices in urban areas is caused by the poor distribution networks, and the weakness in the agricultural supply chain.
Labour is scarce these days on the farms because many young graduates do not stay back in the villages to tend their parents’ farms. This is where we are likely to face unsustainability of subsistence farming in Ghana, after the passing away of the older generation. It was funny the other day to read a suggestion on the internet that the Ghanaian government should allow an influx of cheap labour from neighbouring countries to supply cheap labour on our farm estates.
This is where we need to think ahead by establishing commercial farms and plantations, commercial fish farms, and truck and market gardening in the peri-urban areas to sustain agriculture in the long-run. We need to create synergies and tight integration in the agricultural supply chain by linking animal feed makers to the poultry, piggery and other livestock farmers.
We need to link the supermarket chains, stores and retailers at the downstream part of the chain to the farmers. Many young people nowadays think farming is a dirty and menial job, yet many millionaires in the USA are farmers. There is gold in the soil. Our poultry industry in Ghana is dying a slow and natural death because of high cost of input and neglect by the government. Besides, their market is killed by high imports of tasteless frozen meats. The Ghana government should with immediate effect ban meat and chicken imports to make us sustainable in livestock production.
My elder brother who is 87 years, and a retired mason or bricklayer, used to work for the disbanded Animal Husbandry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture. He was once stationed at Amasaman and Pokuase near Nsawam. He later transferred to the derelict and defunct Pomadze Poultry Farm near our hometown, Winneba.
Those were the 60s and 70s when state-run enterprises supplemented the efforts of subsistence farmers, and they served as yardsticks or benchmarks of good practice. We had quality feed produced for sale to livestock farmers, and quality calves, chickens, and piglets for those who wanted to embark on livestock farming. Pomadze Poultry was an excellent enterprise which was killed at a time it was blossoming and serving as a source of quality protein supply in Ghana.
Most of those large-scale commercial farms were funded by government, as models of excellence, under the Kwame Nkrumah regime. It is very sad indeed to reflect now that those farms offered lots of employment opportunities, and they ensured food security. Most of our agricultural experts then were trained in Israel and they were innovative. After the 1966 coup, those viable state-run commercial farms were sold for a song to some underserving local businessmen who ran them down, hence the food deficit in protein sources that we are currently facing in the country.
Ghana now imports lots of tasteless frozen meat products into the country from abroad, thereby indirectly patronizing foreign farmers and emasculating our indigenous producers. This is part of mercantilist beggar-my-neighbour economics reminiscent of the 18th and 19th centuries. I do not know which World Trade Organisation Protocols that we have signed to expose our farmers to so much risk from foreign competitors who supply us sub-standard meats.
This sad state of affairs is tantamount to dependency syndrome and neo-colonialism, whereby we still do not have economic freedom. Nkrumah warned us about such developments in his many writings on the last stage of imperialism and neo-colonialism. We are our own vehicles and instruments for economic and cultural enslavement and incarceration. What compares with our own home-grown chickens, goats, guinea fowls and sheep? Not those insipid and nutritionless frozen meats imported into our country!
In conclusion, I call upon us as Ghanaians, to go back to our roots and develop backyard farming. Those who have the wherewithal should invest heavily in agriculture because it is the backbone of our economy, and it holds the key to the survival of our nation. We need to intensify organic farming in Ghana.
Let us come up with innovative ideas in farming, to increase yield, but not compromising on accepting GMOs lock, stock, and barrel, hook, line, and sinker.agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-16429758487387820632014-11-27T02:04:00.000-08:002014-11-27T02:06:35.747-08:00Listen to Rite Fm Agric News each day at 12pm<a href="http://www.ritefmonline.org"></a>
1310 2:30 Rite Fm News at 12
agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0Somanya, Ghana6.1034313597945937 -0.0152778625488281256.0955368597945938 -0.025362862548828125 6.1113258597945936 -0.0051928625488281248tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-65877392415804127572014-11-26T04:53:00.001-08:002014-11-26T04:53:32.381-08:00AFAP- Pierre Brunache, Regional Director, West Africa<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/exKaVwkdCzQ" width="459"></iframe>agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-39193466399280173322014-11-26T04:51:00.001-08:002014-11-26T04:51:48.379-08:00Rice Farming in Afife, Ghana<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UrddBks41IY?list=LLWic697YR_D9uVPdBPs5r5A" width="459"></iframe>agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-905783374509786662014-10-26T11:25:00.002-07:002014-10-26T11:26:03.315-07:00District Education Observer Project (DEOP) - A Rite 90.1 Fm iinitiativehttp://www.star-ghana.org/news/district-education-observer-project-a-rite-901-fm-initiative/
https://soundcloud.com/star-ghana-1/district-education-observer-project-quarter-2-documentary-children-want-to-learn
Its frightening to hear leaders in the 21st century advocating for students to be whipped. Amazingly many people seem to support this. Rite 90.1Fm is championing the use of radio for development and this is one of our many development projects that is having an impact in our community. This one was a STAR Ghana sponsored project.
Owuraku Asamoah is the host of our morning show a program that mostly looks at how we can discuss topical issues in the Agricultural sector. Issues that affect development in our communities. We stream live on www.ritefmonline.org or TuneIn radio
agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-10885621302989753232014-10-26T10:33:00.000-07:002014-10-26T10:33:04.083-07:00 Prioritize agriculture, financial institutions toldhttp://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/artikel.php?ID=331810 1/2
Business News of Friday, 24 October 2014 Source: GNA
Reading the article in the link above I got the sense that in Ghana our Financial institutions will not, cannot, should not be made to invest in the AGRICULTURE SECTOR UNLESS GOVT or some INDEPENDENT BODY GIVES THEM SOME MONEY(NOT THEIR OWN) TO LOAN OUT TO FARMERS. Why will they ever risk their investments in Agriculture?
Listen to what my interaction over the years with some Banks(safer not to mention their names) say..Agriculture is too risk as it is too dependent on rainfall and therefore too much uncertainty and now there is also the looming danger of CLIMATE CHANGE that is affecting everything in farming, others say.... farmers do not pay back their loans, others say why give it to farmers when traders can turn around the money in a relatively short time etc...and most of these reasons are truths. But there are so many more reasons why the banks will not bother with agriculture when its easy to just buy treasury bills or loan it to commercial traders. and make much more in their annual turnover
The question I often ask then is.... which Bank in Ghana will give any money as start-ups to young people who have no collateral( not even farm lands will be accepted), who will readily take a chance on a farmer who possible is an illiterate, has no Technical know-how or knows nothing about new and modern technology on how farming is being done in the more developed countries. The answer is simple and clear...No One and No Bank!.
The banks will only begin to talk to you when they see your fat bank account and usually it is those who are exporting produce or the Agro processing industries who add value to the produce they buy from the farmer or a foreign company that has brought in its own capital and successful managed to make its agro bussiness prosperous . The farmer who is the primary producer usually bears the most risk and he is the one that needs more support but they are the ones who are usually being ignored and being left to fend for themselves. Naturally the older farmers are the ones fading out or slowly dying off. There is going to be a generation gap and in the near future the risk of food insecurity if the Govt does not begin to show real steps in managing the agriculture sector in the country.
I also often ask myself...Do we have a ministry that is actually working to improve the work of the farmer and also ensure that what they do is sustainable....Do the work with the farmer at heart or are they just more interested in their workshops and per diems? I have been working in this sector for a while now and I am as lost now as I was 10years ago. Wyy will I then encourage the people ( mostly the younger ones) who keep asking me and showing the interest in participating in the seemingly booming sector because of all the BIG TALK and empty promises when I cannot boast of any profits myself? Having mere passion is not ENOUGH!!!!MERE statements being made by those in power and policy makers is not enough!!! GHAna is at the cross roads and I am not afraid to say it.....Yes!!!!!.... Agriculture and farming for that matter is at High Risk!!! and is failing
But just take a minute and ask yourself so who are the people who do it and where do you get the food you eat everyday from? How long can we as a country, ignore the unprofessional and amateurish way Agric is being done in the country. I just do not get it.
ADB the bank mandated to help farmers in my opinion should have been sold long ago because it is irrelevant in its own mandated agenda. WHen you speak to some of them they will tell you it is not their fault as the Govt expects to be paid dividends at the end of the month, Their own people will tell you ..we cannot give out loans to farmers at rates any lower than other banks as we must make a profit. so they end up giving more loans to traders and commercial people than the farmers who need the money to help them improve, expand or grow their businesses. My farming business has saved with ADB for the past 10years and I don't have a relationship officer, I have never been approached if I want a loan, they have never even asked me how my business is doing. But I bet if I was exporting and had a fat account they would have paid attention to me and this validates the very point i made earlier on. The banks are simply not interested in nurturing you to grow unless they see you are already making it
The Govt or politician is not interested in really solving the problems of farmers or truly help them develop..they are only interested in the politics of the game...when we came into power we did a,b,c whether it worked or failed they introduced something and spent so much.( meanwhile whatever they spend ends up in their own pockets). ARe we for REAL!!! DO they see how it is being done in other countries and the massive investments being poured into the sector?
To me, the Development partners are no better...they send in their own people and they come here to do so many projects that die off without any real success.... A typical case is all the investments that have been made and continue to be made up in Northern Ghana. What do we have to show for it? I am sick of it!!! Its about time they become bold to stop giving money to ruling Govts who clain they have their own agenda for the Agric sector.
Everyone keeps talking about the fact that Ghana needs an Agric Revolution to change our fortunes..I say we need a revolutionary, visionary who can be bold enough to invest properly in the sector and stop all this nonsense of trying to start all sort of schemes in farming for the rural poor that do not work.
Ghana does not have to re-invent the wheel. It Is been done in many parts of Africa in countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana etc. Our so called leaders must stop wasting our money and our time and get their hands dirty and stop sitting in Accra with all the talk shops. They must give money to some of the banks who have already dared use their own capital and venture into supporting Agriculture. They must give money to some of our National best farmers and help them expand what has already made them achievers. Today many of our farming lands are being destroyed or giving way to real estate developers and gold miners (Galamsey etc.) and we look on. some of our same leaders are the very people giving away the concessions because they get their cut. SHAME ON YOU!!!! A farmer stels a goat and he serves in prison. The same thief called a politician is made to go home with his spoils and nothing happens. THIEFS...if you ask me most our leaders are plain thiefs, they keep stealing our money because nothing will ever happen to them. FIRE BURN YOU ALL!!!!!
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/artikel.php?ID=331810
Prioritize agriculture, financial institutions told
Nana Bosoma Asor Nkrawiri II, Omanhene of Sunyani Traditional Council on Wednesday advised
financial institutions to prioritize agriculture to help improve food production.
This, he explained could be achieved if financial institutions designed excellent banking packages that
would benefit the rural poor to go into commercial farming.
Nana Nkrawiri II gave the advice at the official launch of the universal status of the GN Bank (formerly
First National Bank) in Sunyani.
The Bank of Ghana (BOG) has granted the GN Bank a universal license, to operate banking services
across the length and breadth of the country and outside as well.
Nana Nkrawiri II noted that the country’s economy thrived on agriculture, and if financial institutions
placed premium on that sector, it would not only reduce poverty, but enhanced national food security.
He said the influx of banking institutions in Sunyani and parts of the Brong-Ahafo Region, was a good
sign of development, but added that the industry would progress if it provided excellent customer
services.
Though the BOG has granted it a universal license, the GN Bank would continue to be a national bank for
the ordinary person, providing close-to-client banking service to customers, Mr Charles Nimako, Director
of the Bank said.
He expressed appreciation about the supervisory role of the BOG and assured customers that the bank
would continue to operate within the guidelines of the central bank to protect the interest of customers.
Mr Nimako said the GN Bank was fully owned and managed by Ghanaians and would soon open up
ownership for interested Ghanaian investors and customers.
Mr Henry Lamptey, General Manager, Corporate Banking of the GN Bank, emphasized that the bank had
not been sold except that it had changed its name. 0/26/2014 Prioritize agriculture, financial institutions told | Business News 2014-10-24
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/artikel.php?ID=331810 2/2
Sponsored Links by Taboola
He assured customers of highest standard of integrity, loyalty and absolute honesty by aiming to become
the “best big bank” by the end of 2015.
“In line with corporate mission we do not intend to metamorphose into a high street bank but to remain
the people bank,” Mr Lamptey said.agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-38037230905161648642014-10-24T06:52:00.002-07:002014-10-26T10:33:53.452-07:00 The wrong notion that Ghanaian farmers are the most deprived in the society.https://news.google.com.gh/news/section?pz=1&cf=all&q=Agriculture%20in%20GHana&siidp=3bde0d96a7adbeecf3c58faad4637a0b4fc8&ict=ln
After reading this GNA story captured below one is tempted to have a real go at the assertion by this farmer.I really do not get it when people make such general sweeping statements about agriculture just to score points. Why should anyone stop a peasant farmer from describing themselves as deprived in the society when the farmers themselves are saying they are. What has changed? Yes! some farmers are doing very well, some have become successful but there are many out there who are not doing very well. Yes!... It well might be that the assertion My Ayittey makes, is one of the reasons why the youth do not want to go into farming but I disagree that it is one of the major reasons that has stopped the youth from investing in Agriculture.
How many people atre involved in plantation farming in GHana? how many nucleus farms exist that have out grower schemes to help these peasant farmers? Is there any Agri-financing in this country.
He should come again and explain how a young person wanting to do Agric can start a farm without any funds, No land and no technical support? Where are the extension officers in this country? Please some of these sweeping statements being banded around are even more damaging. When those who have toiled to even start farm manage to produce under very difficult circumstances, are there any good roads to bring them to the markets? In these rural areas where they live are there any social amenities worth boasting about. Its about time real investments are made in the Agric sector and this is the missing link. The lack of opportunity for young people to even get farmlands, good improved seeds, farm insurance, the technical know-how and support etc. these are the issues we need to be looking at. He is a farmer and perhaps he needs talk to the younger generation as to why they don't want to get into farming. It is just not the notion that farmers are poor because its the same for others in other sectors. It is how we have managed the transition of our ageing farmers to the younger ones and how the sector has been developed over the years. Today in most second cycle institutions the students do not have any time to even do any real School farming and even those who do it as a course barely do any real practicals.
Having said this I am not discounting some of the pertinent issues he has raised but the prescription he is selling does not unravel the poor performance and the lack of interest by the youth in this agric sector.
A GNA story
The 2013 Upper Manya Krobo District Best farmer , Mr Moses Kumah Ayittey, has called for an end to the wrong notion that farmers are the most deprived in the society.
He said the wrong notion is one of the major reasons that make the youth to refuse to invest in agriculture and trooped to the commercial towns chasing none existing jobs.
Mr Ayittey said there was evidence that when farming was properly managed and the appropriate procedure and technology applied , the returns to the investor could be as high as the returns to the best investments in the economy.
He was speaking at the 4H-Ghana Upper Manya Krobo District maiden Project Exhibition at Asesewa.
Mr Ayittey appealed to teachers to stop using weeding as a punishment to students because it made them to regard farming as a continuation of their punishment in school.
Mr Emmanuel Sena of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture(MOFA) called on the District Assembly, traditional authorities and captains of industry in the district to support the 4H concept to be extended to many schools in the district.
Mr Kweku Boateng, the Chief Executive Officer of 4H-Ghana, said soon the world population would reach 7 billion and food would be needed to feed the population.
He said 4H-Ghana was teaching the youth through their school gardening how to adopt high yielding seeds and the use of best agricultural practices that would enable them to increase their yield and incomes in future as farmers.
Mr Boateng said the introduction of the Dupon Pioneer seeds and the new planting protocol to the 4H-Ghana Clubs in the district helped farmers in the district to increase their maize yield from six mini bags per acre to 20 mini bags.
He called on the District Assembly and parents to support the 4H-Ghana sustainable school feeding programme introduced to two basic schools for it to be extended to many schools in the district.
Mr Trent Mcnight, Chief Executive Officer of Agricorps, a non-governmental organization based in the United States which has been supporting 4H-Ghana with US agricultural graduates to help implement their agricultural programmes, said if the youth are taught how to run agriculture as a business, they would grow to feed Ghana and the world.
Mr Mcnight, a businessman and a wheat farmer, said as a young 4H member in the US, he started farming with five cows and now has 3,000 cows in Texas.agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-65916321316821457732014-10-17T09:20:00.000-07:002014-10-17T09:20:10.163-07:00Nigeria's past just sounds like Ghana's now but I bet with the sort of plans they have put in place reading from this story, they will overtake Ghana in cocoa production in no time. Perhaps we can draw a lot of parallels from this story and Ghana's handling of the Cocoa industry. The ivory coast after its war has increased its cocoa production to almost double what Ghana is producing today. My question is, are we not over concentrating too much on our oil and neglecting our Agriculture especially the Cocoa industry? what is the cocoa board doing to encourage increase in production, adding value and protecting our borders from smuggling etc. just saying...much more needs to be done
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/african-and-mideast-business/nigeria-nurtures-its-once-unloved-cocoa-industry-as-prices-flourish/article20379625/agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-84139970853295355112014-10-17T09:09:00.002-07:002014-10-17T09:09:39.272-07:00Do Ghanaian farmers have pension?Is there an Agric pension plan or fund for Ghanaian farmers? I am only asking maybe there is and I stand to be corrected but I ask this because it appears it is mandatory for all employers & workers to pay some sort of pension whether you like it or not. Why has nothing been put in place for farmers? Perhaps the exception is Cocoa farmers....the question is..... are they the only ones playing a role in Agriculture in Ghana? I wish we could put this question forward to the policy makers?agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-18770917907668916802014-10-17T08:51:00.003-07:002014-10-17T08:56:06.531-07:00Pineapple Production in Ghana
Useful and interesting points in this story in the link that comparisons and deductions can be made to pineapple production in Ghana. Question though..... Is the pineapple industry in Ghana still vibrant? Has the overly production of MD2 killed the industry? I am just asking....these are the kind of questions that the Rite Fm news team might want to direct to farmer based organizations such as SPEG, PRINPAG etc.
http://i-pineapple-a.blogspot.com/2014/09/africa-nigeria-banks-heavy-on-pineapple.htmlagripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-89049617937452007312014-08-30T04:31:00.000-07:002014-08-30T04:31:09.672-07:00Backyard Gardening or farming<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8mZUjdPD3-FiYslZq6dc6m9lrcn0-RUh5_TvZbmzp9q693yAhcPzkwEfxQOOMfESH4-jUPXncsdD0bwUnAQiYQhqbttEqFn6_rU9D6Ko9Gpi52RQOGi0nifNzDNFOd1oAPR11YnMiXE/s1600/IMG_0999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8mZUjdPD3-FiYslZq6dc6m9lrcn0-RUh5_TvZbmzp9q693yAhcPzkwEfxQOOMfESH4-jUPXncsdD0bwUnAQiYQhqbttEqFn6_rU9D6Ko9Gpi52RQOGi0nifNzDNFOd1oAPR11YnMiXE/s1600/IMG_0999.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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A backyard garden</div>
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I am writing to encourage those who have a little parcel of land in their homes to use it purposefully by planting a fruit tree or cultivating vegetables or food that you can eat. Backyard gardening or farming appears to have been lost on many families in Ghana but it is a practice that can be very rewarding. <div>
It offers a lot of exercise for the one who is doing it, it provides you with your own food, you do not have to go into mainstream farming where one has to buy land and employ farmhands. The food being cultivated can be made organic and offers you protection against what you buy from unknown sources from the open market.<div>
These days other types of backyard gardening are being introduced, using Greenhouse technologies and aquaponics. This is not to say that these technologies are restricted to backyard gardening as many commercial farms are using these methods. If you are an Agriculture enthusiast it is one way to practice your passion.</div>
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agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0Adenta Municipality, Ghana5.71563686037164 -0.165334045886993415.71538986037164 -0.16564904588699342 5.7158838603716395 -0.1650190458869934tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-14242836094971813642014-08-29T09:34:00.001-07:002014-08-29T09:35:57.281-07:00<a href="http://www.ritgefmonline.org/">www.ritgefmonline.org</a> an award winning radio station focused on Agriculture and social developmentagripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-89832714870694635512014-04-28T05:01:00.001-07:002014-04-28T05:01:58.200-07:00Today's Topical Bible Study<a href="http://www.crosswalkmail.com/ShareArticle.do?perform=referredClick">Today's Topical Bible Study</a><br /><br />
I enjoyed reading this article and felt a strong urge to share this. Hope this finds a place in your heart whether you are a christian or notagripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-69912271348343661562014-04-24T09:27:00.003-07:002014-08-30T03:54:17.150-07:00<br />
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Story culled from </em><a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201404220654.html" style="background-color: transparent;">http://allafrica.com/stories/201404220654.html</a></div>
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<b>In my opinion, are African leaders really serious about improving the welfare of their people? They talk as if they know all the problems yet do very little to solve them. What do they end up using the resources of the countries they lead for? Your guess is as good as mine. Reading this article I got so angry I thought I was going to get a heart attack because one can do very little about the situation. I share in Dr. Awiti's assertion and advice for African leaders and its advisors t to wake up!!!!! I went into Agriculture thinking I was going to make a difference but I am so disillusioned. Hear this:-</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Liberation Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">According to President Museveni,<i> malnutrition impairs educational achievements, undermines economic productivity and places a huge burden on Uganda's fragile public health system. The African Development Bank (AfDB) recognizes that Agriculture is vital to promoting growth and reducing poverty in Africa. </i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Liberation Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><i>As an African scholar and public intellectual, I am scandalized and my pride is deeply wounded by the unending specter of hunger and malnutrition. It is shameful, beyond measure or pardon, that fifty years with Africans at the helm, little progress has been made to guarantee every African child sufficient and nutritious food. I am sure there is enough blame to go round; the UN system and the multi-billion dollar international aid honchos are not innocent.</i></span><br />
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<i>But, ultimately, the burden of responsibility must rest with people like me, Africa's intellectual elite. </i></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Here what Dr. Awiti the director of the East Africa Institute and assistant professor at Aga Khan University, has to say:-</em><br />
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<b>Is this guy for real. Has he not got the power to make a difference? so what is the difference between him and myself? if he who has more than enough power to make a difference is scandalized what are we ordinary people to say?</b></div>
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Stagnation of agriculture has been the defining feature of Africa's economic policy over the last four decades. Spending in agricultural research and development by African countries declined by 27 percent between 1981 and 2000. Conversely, spending in agricultural research and development rose by 30 percent in rest of the developing world; Asia and Latin America.</div>
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Egged by experts the African Union, through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), has set a growth target of 6% per annum for agriculture and encourages every country to allocate 10 percent of the national budget to agriculture. CAADP called for $251 billion to fund investments in irrigation, infrastructure, education and markets. Today, less than handful countries allocate 10 percent of their national budget to agriculture and critical investments in agricultural research and development lag behind other developing regions..............</div>
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Africa has a large and growing population of young people. Where will young Africans currently entering the labor force find employment? Africa has the lion's share of the world's arable land. Agriculture is uniquely positioned to absorb this young and dynamic workforce. Africa's youth dividend will not be credited automatically into the national treasury. We can harness the youth dividend by accelerating the transformative change in agriculture.</div>
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African governments and their expert advisors must wake up. There is no such thing as a dual economy in which agriculture is a passive actor - a low productivity supplier of food and a subordinate driver of national growth and economic transformation. Agriculture is the real driver of Africa's economic growth. There will be no transition to China-style labor-intensive manufacturing until agriculture is productive, efficient and profitable.</div>
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Our path to middle income and economic prosperity must be different. Africa must shun technical advisors external beholden to the antiquated linear growth models - from hunter-gatherer to agrarian to industrial to service and knowledge. Our research and academic community must re-imagine our unique path to prosperity.</div>
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agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-79924977185270865572013-06-04T14:31:00.001-07:002013-06-04T14:31:21.859-07:00Ghana: Going Local<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RnWfAIWjEJ8" width="480"></iframe>agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-61660928261811619152013-06-04T14:09:00.001-07:002013-06-04T14:09:19.135-07:00Rabbit Farming in Ghana: The Farmer Brown Story (Part 1)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/97yMFdEH86w" width="459"></iframe>agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997454887243597185.post-32621046835844332332013-06-04T14:08:00.001-07:002013-06-04T14:08:11.702-07:00The benefits of LEAF farming in Africa<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/XTWXOEw9DwM" width="480"></iframe>agripagesghanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846096820475403673noreply@blogger.com0