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African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) should not be a prosperous place for counterfeit and questionable quality products.

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It is imperative to plan strategies that guarantee the safety of agro-food with the aim to promote standards, reliable testing, and international cooperation for better public health and trade.

The regulatory framework for food safety in Africa, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, standards and guidelines within the AfCFTA, regional efforts to contribute to standard-setting, intra-regional and extra-regional trade challenges, as well as lessons for AfCFTA and reliable food safety testing and analysis services, etc., are main subjects addressed by stakeholders in the sector.

The National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA) in partnership with the Joint Food and Agricultural Organization – International Atomic Energy Agency (FAO-IAEA) Centre and the African Food Safety Network (AFoSaN), held a virtual Africa Food Safety Workshop within this perspective.

This meeting engaged with representatives from the public and private food safety testing laboratories, regulators, and quality infrastructure institutions. Agridigitale.net took part.

The discussions brought together world-renowned African scientists and experts with the aim of promoting standards and developing international cooperation for better public health and better trade.

The focus groups are made up of representatives of food surveillance laboratories mandated from all regional economic communities in Africa including the African Union.

According to Lyndon Martin of HAZMAT Global Services in South Africa, importing would be faster and more efficient if there were compliance standards (for example certification procedures or issuance of documents attesting to the origin of products).

In the absence of uniform regulations in Africa, there is a set of technical barriers against importation.

“We need to remove technical barriers to trade on the African continent. At SGS, we have food analysis laboratories in Morocco, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius and we are hiring qualified technicians to increase our capacities. There are 130 analysts and technicians in South Africa to support the food security sector, ” said Dharmarai Naicker, from SGS company in South Africa as an example.

Dr. Godfrey Bahiigwa is Director of the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment(ARBE), an organization that works with African Union Member States, regional economic communities ( RECs), and other actors.

Its mission is to stimulate rural economic development and the development of the agricultural sector by supporting the adoption of strategies, policies, and programs on agriculture, environment, and natural resources.

During his presentation, he has pointed out the need for political support for the establishment of an African Union food security agency specializing in the development of quality standards in order to guarantee healthy food for the populations.

According to him, this will also make it possible to fight against counterfeiting, and other consequences linked to the absence of standards in terms of regulation.

“70% of trade in Africa is based on agriculture and food processing. the AU is working on setting up an African food security agency to prevent counterfeiting and improve efficiency,” he said.

Morocco, for example, is developing its own national regulations in terms of quality standards for agrifood products. South Africa has several well-established organizations in the area of food research and analysis laboratories and Kenya also holds its experience about the regulatory procedures on product authentication.

Paul Njuguna from the Customs and Border Control Department of Kenya reveals that his country does not accept products that are not registered in their country of origin. It is a system against counterfeiting and food produced in an unhealthy environment.

This Kenyan process is also a strategy for enhancing the anti-counterfeiting systems of other countries. Mr. Njuguna added that his country is in a dynamic of openness and collaboration with other countries but also with control bodies, whether private or public.

Public-private partnership is also a good way to gather initiatives and to strengthen control and regulatory strategies.

It is about leaving no loopholes for falsehoods and impostures at the risk of damaging the health of consumers on the continent while destabilizing the efforts of serious entities engaged in agri-food transformation.

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Senior high schools risk closure over imminent food shortage.

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Public Senior High Schools (SHSs) across the country risk closure over food shortage, GhanaXtra.Com can report authoritatively.

Most of the schools have run out of essential food items such as sugar, rice, maize, milk, cooking oil, flour, and sardines and have been forced to devise means of feeding the students.

Credible information available to this portal indicates that many of the schools have been forced to rely on only beans-related foods for supper and lunch and have also been providing breakfast without the mandatory bread.

The situation if not salvaged in the coming days will bring academic activities in the schools to a standstill as authorities will be compelled to send students home.

A source that spoke to GhanaXtra.Com on condition of strict anonymity revealed that despite assurances from the National Buffer Stock, the schools are yet to receive deliveries making it difficult for management.

“As I speak to you, my school has run out of many food items. It is not easy at all but what we hear is assurances from the authorities but they have delivered on their promise”.

A Headmaster (name withheld) in the Eastern Region decries the current situation by describing it as dire.

According to him, feeding the students has now become a major headache for heads of Senior High Schools and urged authorities to intervene.

Meanwhile, independent checks by this portal indicate suppliers have refused to supply foodstuffs as they have not been paid since January.

The Free Senior High School (Free SHS) Policy was a government initiative introduced in September 2017. The policy’s origination began as part of the President’s presidential campaign during Ghana’s 2016 election period and has become an essential part of Ghana’s educational system.

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COCOBOD to submit written-off values of expired products to Parliament.

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The management of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) says it will be submitting written-off values of some expired agrochemicals and fertilizers to Parliament for retrospective approval.

The management’s comments came on the back of the Auditor-General’s report indicated that the institutions’ Board of Directors failed to seek parliamentary approval before writing off the values of the said agrochemicals and fertilizers which amounted to Ghc23,957, 520.65.

In its statement issued in reaction to the Auditor-General’s report, COCOBOD said it “sought approval from the Board of Directors to write off the value of the expired agro-inputs” from its books when an internal audit revealed that the products in question had expired from volume in stock.

Below is the full statement by the management:
REJOINDER: AUDITOR-GENERAL’S REPORT ON EXPIRED CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS AT COCOBOD.
The Auditor-General, in his report on the Public Accounts of Ghana: Public Boards, Corporations and other Statutory Institutions for the period ended December 31, 2020, indicated that expired fertilizers and agrochemicals valued at Ghc23.9 million had been written off from the books of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) by the Board of Directors in 2018 without parliamentary approval.

The report has since been re-published by various media houses and online portals as well as social and political commentators across the country. We wish to update Ghanaians, especially our cherished cocoa farmers and other stakeholders with the facts behind the said report.

COCOBOD procures fertilizers and agrochemicals for distribution to cocoa farmers across the cocoa regions. Usually, these agrochemicals and fertilizers procured are distributed and applied the same year.

When the current Management took over administration in 2017, it was surprising to find out that there were significant volumes of chemicals and fertilizers in stock. It, therefore, caused an audit to be conducted on the items which revealed that some fertilizers and agrochemicals valued at Ghc23,957, 520.65 had expired.

Management subsequently sought approval from the Board of Directors to write off the value of the expired agro-inputs from the books of COCOBOD, an approval which was duly granted.

Management is working with the Board of Directors for onward submission to Parliament for retrospective approval of the write-off through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

We wish to assure our stakeholders that prudent measures have been put in place to prevent the recurrence of issues of this nature.

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Over nine billion dollars ($9 billion) was wasted on irrigation project meant to support farmers.

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The Akwamuhene of Wenchi Traditional Area, Nana Owusu Gyare has revealed that over nine billion dollars ($9b) that the Kuffour’s government took from African Development Bank (AFDB) to construct irrigation system for the farmers at Wenchi Traditional Area never yielded any results for the farmers.

The project that could have helped farmers to produce food crops throughout the year has not yet been completed since president Kufour’s time.

Nana Gyare said this during an interview with Agric Today at Techiman. According to him, he gave one hundred and sixty (160) acres of land to Kufour’s government to develop the irrigate system but to date, the project is not yet completed for farmers to utilize.

“I gave out one hundred and sixty acres of land to Kuffour’s government for construction of irrigation system for the farmers to use but till now they have not completed the project for the farmers to use”, Nana lamented.

He expressed his regret of Ghana importing tomatoes from the neighboring country when the middle belt alone can produce tomatoes to feed the country.

The middle belt namely, Bono East, Bono, and Ahafo alone have the capacity to produce the needed tomatoes and other horticultural commodities that the country needs to survive.

The recent price hikes of food commodities are a result of inadequate support from the government to the farmers. The government should support the horticulture sector especially the vegetable sector to curb the importation of tomatoes from Burkina Faso and the critical areas of such supports are the irrigation system and the provision of the right seed variety for farmers to cultivate.

He called on the government to provide the right variety of seeds for the farmers to cultivate. Nana mentioned that the tomato variety that is produced in Ghana has a short lifespan and could not withstand the test of moisture at post-harvest.

The youth are willing to venture into agriculture but the lack of a supporting system is the main constraint that is preventing the youth.

He beseeched private individuals and other stakeholders to support the agriculture sector especially the vegetable sector to abrogate importation.

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GH¢23.9 million worth of chemicals and fertilizers expired at COCOBOD-Auditor General.

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The Auditor-General has discovered chemicals and fertilizers valued at GH¢23.9 million expired at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).

During the 396th meeting of the Board of Directors held on Tuesday, October 30, and November 2, 2018, the board approved that the debt should be written off.

The Auditor-General raised issues about the approval to write the debt off because management could not provide evidence of Parliamentary approval for the write-off of the value or loss from the books of account.

Section 53 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016, (Act 921) states that the minister shall seek the approval of Parliament to write off a loss of or a deficiency in public funds or public resources.

The Auditor-General explained that failure to seek parliamentary approval could lead to unlawful write-offs from the books of the board.

These are contained in the report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana: Public Boards, Corporations and Other Statutory Institutions for the period ended December 31, 2020.

The report, dated May 31, 2021, was signed by Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, acting Auditor-General.

The Auditor-General, therefore, urged management to seek retrospective parliamentary approval for the write-off.

The report said in the event of failure to secure parliamentary approval, the value shall be recovered from the Board of Directors in accordance with Section 18(b) of the Audit Service Act, 2000, Act 584.

The Auditor-General also urged management to ensure that they seek parliamentary approval for all write-offs in the future.

“Management of COCOBOD will bring to the attention of the Board of Directors and liaise with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for onward submission to the Parliament of Ghana for retrospective approval,” the management promised.

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Akim Asene farmer groups receive off-farm training.

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To empower the women’s groups in the Asene Manso Akroso District, the Department of Agriculture has organized an off-farm training programme for women in Akim Asene.

The participants for the one-day training, are from Peace Palm Oil Processing Women Group, Moral Entrepreneurial Group among others, were trained on liquid soap making.

Mr. Samuel Adu, Officer of Women In Agriculture Development (WIAD), in the district, said off-farm activity is any activity undertaken by a farmer outside farming as an additional source of income.

He said the skill acquired is regarded as a source of livelihood for farm households, and as a means to diversify household income sources.

Mr. Zakaria Birikorang, the facilitator for the training, took participants through stages in liquid soap making, ingredients used, and proper packaging for sales.

He advised them not to start their trades with a huge amount of money, but as low as 40 Ghana cedis.

Madam Elizabeth Kwakye, a member of Moral Entrepreneurial Group, a food processing group at Akim Asene, thanked the Agriculture Department, for the off-farm training and said it is also an income diversification strategy.

WIAD under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is a highly competent public institution transforming livelihoods and promoting the wellbeing of especially women, in the Agricultural sector.

GNA

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HortiFresh launches Mango Cluster Agri input fair to promote quality agri-input within the mango sector at Kintampo and Techiman.

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The missing collaboration link to promote quality agri-input and sustainable services within the mango sector at the two predominant mango producing regions in Ghana thus, Bono East and Bono Regions has been provided with the theme; “Promoting quality Agri-inputs within the Mango sector for a Competitive Domestic and Export market”.

The Programme Manager of HortiFresh, Sheila Assibey-Yeboah explained that under the cluster development fund at HortiFresh, there are some geographical hotspot enclaves for certain commodities which mango is one of them, however, the enclaves Kintampo, Sunyani, Nkoranza, Pamdu, Wenchi, and Techiman are the biggest hub for mango production in the country.

According to her, sustainable partnership for trade promotion is one of HortiFresh’s critical agenda for the mango farmers, input dealers, service providers, financial institutions, processors, etc. therefore, as brokers this programme would create an avenue for the mango sector to thrive.

She called on the farmers and the processors to use the opportunity available to them at the fair to increase their market span.

“The government has promised to transform the agriculture sector from subsistence to agribusiness to promote and improve farmers’ livelihood, therefore, I urged all the farmers gathered here to take mango farming seriously because it is worth more than gold”, the Hon. Municipal Chief Executive Officer at Kintampo North, Hon. Michael Sarkodie Baffoe said.

Hon. Sarkodie added that the Kintampo enclave is blessed with fertile lands and there is nothing growing across the world that cannot be grown at Kintampo but the dissemination of this good information to attract investors into the enclave is lacking making the lands under-utilized.

He reiterated that mango has more revenue as compared to cocoa, however, farmers and all stakeholders in the mango value should be proud for taking such a noble path, “Mango is a fruit crop that has more benefit than cocoa. Comparatively, mango yields more than cocoa although cocoa has been the backbone of Ghana’s economy for decades yet mango is the game-changer for farmers”.

He acknowledges HortiFresh for its supporting systems in the fruit and vegetable sector and called on sponsors and supporting partners to assist in sustaining the programme to help the farmers.

Nana Owusu Gyare, the Akwamuhene of Wenchi Traditional Area took the opportunity and advised the government to plant more mangoes as part of the ‘Green Ghana’ initiative to give Ghana foreign exchange at the shortest possible time instead of planting Mahogany, Wawa and other trees that takes sixty to hundred (60-100) years to mature.

“Bono and Ahafo regions are transitional zones, we can cultivate mango from here to the Northern Region to curtail the effects of the Sahara in the regions”, Nana Owusu Gyare added.

Speaking to Agric Today, Nana said the government supporting mango plantations would be beneficial to the country in terms of protecting the environment, providing foreign exchange, and creating employment to solve the unemployment rate among the youth.

He thanked HortiFresh for creating such synergies to strengthen and creating market accessibility for the stakeholders especially farmers in the mango value chain.

Conforming to the mango’s benefits over cocoa, the Municipal Director of Agric at Kintampo, Simon Yambor revealed that the mango industry employs more people than the cocoa sector. He confirmed that the mango production process involves more value chain actors been from production, processing to the final consumer than the cocoa sector but the sector is sidelined in terms of synergies to produce the rightful niche for farmers to thrive.

“When one talks of mango production in West Africa, Kintampo is likely to be mention first or second. The environment is friendly for mango production, processing, and marketing but the right collaboration between the farmers, input dealers, and the policymakers is missing and I must commend HortiFresh for this great opportunity”, he said.

Mentioning the factors contributing to the low production in the mango value chain, the Municipal Director said pest and disease, lack of access to skilled labour, low level of technical know-how of the farmers, lack of access to credit, lack of simple and affordable tools and or implements and low level of trust between farmers and processors are the key factors hindering the progress of the sector.

The Bono East Regional Director of Agriculture, Mrs. Cecilia Agyemang entreated mango farmers to practice good agronomical practices for the purpose of growing for human consumption, providing good health for consumers and income.

She emphasized that mango production is a serious business that needs serious farmers to venture into it and to attain high production and better income the farmers must embrace the technological approach of farming.

“I am very glad to hear that farmers who obliged and observed the good agricultural practices from HortiFresh were able to harvest ten (10) tons per acre of mangoes as against two tons per acres they were harvesting priorly”, she gladly said.

“HortiFresh’s capacity building has broadened our knowledge-based and improved our mango farming skills in terms of pest and disease control, pruning, harvesting, fertilization and marketing”, the Chairman of Techiman Mango Farmers Association, Nana Kwaw Adams said.

He called on the government to assist in fighting flu fly attacks in mango farming as he did when to tsetse fly some time ago.

He beseeched the farmers to adhere to the teachings at the various sessions and make good use of them to maximize production.

HortiFresh is a programme supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands which has prioritized commercial agriculture in its strategic plan of moving from aid trade. The programme’s mission is to establish a sustainable and internationally competitive fruit and vegetable sector that contributes to inclusive economic growth, food and nutrition security in Ghana and Ivory Coast. The Programme aims to reach 15000 farmers and increase their productivity by 20% by 2021.

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Maintain Ghana’s reputation as leading quality cocoa producer – Agric Minister charges new QCB.

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The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has warned of Ghana missing its place on the international market for premier quality cocoa, should managers of the country’s quality control board, relent on pragmatic steps to sustain, if not improve the quality of cocoa.

Speaking during the swearing-in of a board of directors for the Quality Control Company, a subsidiary of COCOBOD, he said “countries which in terms of volumes do much or better than we are also turning to adopt the method that we are using to improve the quality of their beans. And in recent years, Cote D’Ivoire’s quality has been going up because of the adoption of the practices that we have here in Ghana”

“So you have a huge responsibility to see to the operations of the QCC to ensure competitiveness and improvement”, he stressed.

Chairman of the board, Dr. Ebenezer Owusu, who is a Lecturer & Head of Department of Plant & Environmental Biology, University of Ghana, Legon pledged resolve to improve the quality standards of Cocoa in Ghana.

“Our priority is to ensure that we maintain, if not massively elevate our quality control mechanisms to ensure that our cocoa beans remain top-notch as they have remained,” he stated.

The 5-member board includes the Board Chair, Dr. Ebenezer Owusu – Lecturer & Head of Department of Plant & Environmental Biology, University of Ghana, Legon; Dr. Barima Afranie – Lecturer at the Department of Pharmacy; University of Ghana; S. B. Kangbere, University of Ghana, Legon; Kwaku Oppong – a businessman who is representing the Licensed Buying Cocoa Companies and Julius Mark Kodjo Opoku Martinson, Acting Managing Director of Quality Control.

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PFJ successes nullified by post-harvest-losses – Esoko.

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Work done by commodity price monitoring and agricultural research firm, Esoko has revealed that the gains chalked with the implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) were swept away by the age-old agriculture challenge, Post-Harvest-Loses (PHL).

According to Esoko, for the five years, the government initiative has been implemented, about half of the produce goes waste due to the government’s inability to process or store them. This, it says, is a major contributing factor to food price hikes on the market in recent times.

Content Manager at Esoko, Francis Danso-Adjei in an interview with the B&FT said that the PFJ can be said to be a success but the neglect of other players in the agriculture value chain has nullified its effect on the prices of food on the market.

“If you check Planting for Food and Jobs, they are subsidizing inputs, sometimes the issue is not with the production but with post-production. Last year amidst COVID, we harvested a good amount of food but what happened to the harvest? The cyclical problem of post-harvest losses took all the gains away.

We have been giving farmers incentives to produce for 5-6 years, they have been producing but at the end of the day, half of what they produce goes waste, we do nothing to it, we are not integrating it with the industries. When you check production figures, you will realize that the numbers are rising but along the chain, the others are not getting what they need.”

Buffer Stock
He said the government needs to invest hugely in storage and ensure the expansion of its buffer stock facilities across the country if it is serious about leveraging PFJ to guarantee moderate food prices for a reasonably fair period.

“The nation has not paid much attention to post-harvest systems. We harvest in August, September, and October but by November almost all the commodities we harvested in August cannot be found on the market even though we were not able to consume them all; many of them go to waste.

As a nation we need to take a critical look at the chain and give more attention to the processing and storing of food, it would go a long way to help keep the prices of food commodities on the market stable. Proper warehouses are needed for storage and in the period of shortages, you release them gradually to help keep food prices stable,” he said.

Food security dialogue
He wants a national dialogue on food security to be held, and all players in the value chain are allowed to express their views as to how it can be achieved.

“What are our buffer stocks as a nation? Can we go a whole year without planting, and we will still survive? These are the discussions that are needed now. Finance institutions and technical people need to put their heads together and come up with the best ways to ensure food security. If people are hungry, it would cause chaos and reduce productivity,” he noted.

PHL Data
The nation is said to lose more than one-tenth of its top four bowls of cereal produce to post-harvest losses (PHL) every year due to impediments along the entire value chain. In 2014, the combined losses in rice, maize, millet, and sorghum from the point of harvest to their retail/wholesale points at market centers were estimated at 337,932 tonnes – enough to feed almost one million Ghanaians, according to data on PHL sourced from research publications.

The data is compiled by the Africa Post-Harvest Losses Information System (APHLIS), a private sector initiative that gathers conservative data on PHL in the sub-region from peer-reviewed journals for dissemination. For 2018, the APHLIS data showed that Ghana’s losses from the four bowls of cereal were valued at around US$141.12 million – more than GH¢680.19 million, using that year’s average exchange rate of US$1 to GH¢4.82.

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The President assures cashew farmers of improved pricing for the 2022 farming season.

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President Nana Akufo-Addo has reiterated government’s commitment towards diversifying the Agric sector through the establishment of the Tree Crops Development Authority.

The Authority, he said, is set to provide the needed support to some seven tree crops, including Cashew.

Addressing the chiefs and people of Nkoranza as part of his two-day tour of the Bono East Region, the President assured cashew farmers in the area of government’s resolve to boost the sector by making it “one of Ghana’s number one export crops like cocoa”.

“Cashew development is of much significance to me because there are lots of benefits associated with it, and the Tree Crops Development Authority is now developing various strategies to help shape the Cashew trade,” he said.

“Their work would include production, marketing and grading, just like it is done in the cocoa sector. They’ll replicate same in the cashew industry, and I am closely monitoring their progress,” he added.

The President added, “I am hopeful that by the 2022 Cashew season, we’ll be through with this and cashew farmers here would see some impact in the work of the Authority through its pricing.”

On his part, the Omanhene of the Nkoranza Traditional Council, Nana Kwame Baffoe IV, lauded the President for his contributions towards the development of Agriculture in the area.

He said the new warehouses at Yefri in the Nkoranza North District and Donkoro Nkwanta in the South District would help eliminate post-harvest losses when commissioned.

Nana Kwame Nyarko added, “the people of Nkoranza are predominantly farmers, so the distribution of 100,000 seedlings to cashew farmers and the distribution of free fertilizers have helped ease the hardships farmers have faced over the years”.

He, however, appealed to the Cashew Board to intervene in the pricing of cashew across the country.

He called for the establishment of a cashew juice factory under the 1D1F policy to help utilize the cashew apple, which would help create jobs in the area.

e President assures cashew farmers of improved pricing for the 2022 farming season.

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