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Out of 4,400 contestants, a Ghanaian lady emerged as a winner to study food science at Lille, France.

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Godslove Boadu, a Ghanaian national who plans to study Food Science in France, is the winner of the 2021 Study a Master’s in Europe Scholarship awarded by educations.com.

Godslove has been awarded €5000 towards her tuition fees for her Master of Science and Engineering degree in Food Science at Junia ISA, Graduate School of Agriculture and Bioengineering in Lille, Northern France.

Godslove interned at the Ghana Standards Authority, before working in food safety and quality assurance at Project Peanut Butter, an NGO that helps malnourished children in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. It was through this work that Godslove was inspired to deepen her knowledge of nutrition initiatives. Godslove wants to do this in a multicultural environment to bring new perspectives into her work.

This has led her to decide to study abroad in France, one of the top five places to study abroad in Europe. Godslove’s choice was also motivated by France being home to the Paris Agreement and one of the biggest landmarks in the fight against climate change.

Having grown up in Ghana, where climate change and the welfare of rural farming communities is an issue, Godslove has been inspired to undertake her Master’s program alongside other keen industry professionals from around the world. Godslove will graduate in 2023.

Godslove’s story and future plans align with the mission of the scholarship, which seeks to recognize Master’s students who study in Europe to become globally-minded leaders.

“We are tremendously inspired by Godslove’s passion for her subject and the thought that she put into her country and program of choice. In a few short years, she has approached food science from multiple viewpoints, always with the aim of helping make the world a better place: whether through ensuring food safety, providing nutritious food to undernourished children, or developing and promoting climate-friendly foods. We are confident that she will become a leader in her field who brings a global perspective to her work,” says Abby Guthrie, Communications Manager of educations.com.

About this scholarship.
This is our second scholarship of this kind, the first one being awarded last year. It was introduced to help promote Master’s programs in Europe and their power to shape globally-minded leaders from around the world and is awarded annually.

In this round, there were over 4,400 applicants to the scholarship and the winner was chosen based on their eligibility and the following criteria:
• Globally-minded and interested in other cultures
• Motivated and inspired to positively change the world
• High academic achiever with consistently outstanding grades to prove it
• Involved in extracurricular groups and activities
• Excited to begin their adventure and share their story with the world!

Students were asked to answer the question:

“Why did you choose your study abroad country, and how will it help you grow as a globally-minded leader?”

2022 scholarships

Applications for the Study a Master’s in Europe Scholarship 2022 will open on September 3, 2021.

We have also launched our Go Global MBA Scholarship for studies starting in Fall 2022. This scholarship aims to help promising business minds take their career to the next step by studying for an MBA abroad.

If your institute would like to promote the scholarships for your students, please contact scholarships@educations.com for details.

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Ghanaian and Italian agribusinesses anticipate proactive partnerships after agribusiness Digital Lab.

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Ghanaian and Italian agribusiness firms have held promising business-to-business (B2B) meetings through the Ghana-Italy Agribusiness Digital Lab, organized by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) virtually.

Over 50 Ghanaian-led agro companies participated in the meetings with a focus on having in-depth knowledge on Italian Agricultural Machinery; Cold Chain and Logistics; Seeds, Greenhouse and Irrigation; and Sorting, Processing, and Packaging.

Italy has been noted as a pioneer in these agribusiness arenas, the Digital Lab presented their finest kinds in the sector. This gave fruitful and promising opportunities for commercial partnership with these Italian experts by the Ghanaian agro companies.

The virtual B2B meeting was a gold-mined opportunity given. Eric Kwabena Agyei of 3E Farms and Foods affirmed this after going through difficult times putting up such a great program.

“Italian machinery technology is the best in the world and is second to none. On any day we shall go for Italian technology. Fortunately, it has proven itself over the years,” he confirmed.

The CEO of the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana, Anthony Morrison commended the organizers for such a great opportunity presented to the sector.

According to him, Italian technologies are robust and sustainable that Africa and Ghana should adopt. The technology shows more superior quality and advantage over some of the known technologies.

He confirmed that companies are also willing to provide some level of skills training for prospective Ghanaian agribusinesses.

Looking ahead to the future partnerships, he added they are looking forward to sealing a business with two or more companies from Italy and hoping to visit about 4 prospective companies once the Covid-19 pandemic is over.

The products and services being offered by the Italian companies are excellent and timely in the agriculture and agribusiness sector, and in the entire value chain from production through to manufacturing to trade. Lucy Kyerede Quainoo, the Co-founder of the Agribusiness Value Chain Federation mentioned this at the Digital Lab.

She observed that there are opportunities for collaborating with all three companies she spoke with and looks forward to furthering engagements.”

Alessandro Gerbino, the ITA Director for West Africa, mentioned that Italy has a lot to offer Ghana’s agribusiness market, from technology solutions to skills transfer and training.

The reason for organizing the Digital Lab is to serve as a platform to deepen engagement between the two countries’ agribusiness sectors and make Italian technologies easily accessible to the Ghanaian market.

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Nsawam-Adoagyiri Municipal Agricultural Office presents coconut seedlings to farmers.

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The Nsawam-Adoagyiri Municipal Agricultural Office has presented 15,000 coconut seedlings to farmers in the area to boost the Planting for Export and Rural Development initiative in the municipality.

Mr. Isaac Kwadwo Buabeng, the Nsawam-Adoagyiri Municipal Chief Executive Officer in an interview said the provision of the seedlings would enhance the economic activities of the farmers.

He mentioned some of the beneficiary communities as Asikabew, Duayeden, Noka, Otukwadjo, Panpanso Number One, Obredumah, Nigo Teshie, Asiyaw, Fotobi, Akwamu, and Akpeteshie.

Mr. Buabeng said the fruits of the high-breed coconut seedlings could be harvested in three to four years when planted and that the donation is to encourage the youth to venture into the Planting for Food and Export policy of the government.

Mrs. Perpetual Decker, the Municipal Director of Agriculture, said the field workers of the Department would support the project to assist the farmers in inlining, pecking, and planting.

She said the Assembly and the Department were planning to establish a factory to provide easy access to the market for the farmers, which would create job opportunities for the youth and help the Assembly to earn foreign income through export.

Madam Mary Addo, a farmer from Asikabew, who received the coconut seedlings on behalf of the farmers, expressed gratitude to the Assembly for the project and called on the youth in the area to take farming as a career to earn a living.

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Mim Cashew shuts down, more than 1,000 employees laid off.

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The Mim Cashew and Agricultural Production Limited in the Ahafo Region has shut down with more than 1,000 employees laid off.

Mrs Jemima Akusika Hansen, the Director of Human Resource and Administration, said the free-zone enterprise, was shut down in November 2020 due to the high cost of production, processing, and lack of raw materials to feed the factory.

She told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Mim during a visit by Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the Minister of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), that cashew production and processing was labour intensive and appealed to the government to help revive the company to create jobs for the local people.

Accompanied by some key staff of the Ministry, Dr. Akoto is on a three-day working visit to the Ahafo, Bono, and Bono East Regions.

Mrs. Hansen said the company is currently focusing on farming, saying it has 50 acres of sugarcane and 750 acres of cashew plantations and would require modern, state-of-the-art machines and equipment to revive the factory.

Responding, Dr Akoto expressed shock about the collapse of the company and, therefore, pledged the government’s readiness and support to assist in resuscitating it.

He said the government is working to regulate the cashew industry and promised to support the company to import machines and equipment from Vietnam to revive operations.

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Akyekyere Cocoa Community receives potable drinking water.

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The Cocoa Abrabopa Association (CAA) commissioning borehole for the Akyekyere cocoa community in the the Amenfi Central District of Western Region.

Cocoa farmers and Residents of Akyekyere in the Amenfi Central District of Western Region of Ghana are all praising Cocoa Abrabopa Association (CAA) for assisting them with a mechanized borehole and a new water tank.

As part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, the Cocoa Abrabopa Community Development Project committee with the support of management selected Akyekyere as one of the beneficiary communities for this mechanized borehole.

The Association revealed that they have constructed 25 mechanized boreholes across all the 10 cocoa growing regions in Ghana namely Ashanti, Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Central, Eastern, Western North, Western, Volta, and Oti regions.

According to the Council Chairman of CAA, Mr. Ismail Pomasi, they are fulfilled to have made portable water accessible to about 40,000 inhabitants in cocoa-growing communities including the Akyekyere community.

At a ceremony to commission the mechanised boreholes, the Council Chairman indicated that funding for all the 25 mechanised boreholes was from internal sources.

“5% of member’s premiums are transferred into the community development project fund, and that is what we are using for our community development projects,” he said.

Mr. Pomasi reiterated to the community members the need to contribute a token for every bucket of water fetched for the maintenance of the mechanized boreholes and urged the community members to take good care of the borehole so as to derive long-term benefits.

He also used the occasion to invite local and international organizations to partner with CAA to provide Community Development Projects at a larger scale in cocoa-growing regions in Ghana aimed at improving the livelihoods of farmers which is in line with the vision of the CAA

Nana Okofo Asafo Adjei II Chief of Akyekyere in the Amenfi Central District of the Western Region and the chairman for the occasion supported the idea that each household must be encouraged to contribute a token for maintenance of the mechanized boreholes.

The community committees made up of local traditional authorities, CAA farmers, community members, and the local district assembly should be established as a means of increasing the representation and participation of residents in the decision-making process. Their mandate is to make sure that this beautiful mechanized water borehole provided by CAA will be regularly maintained and all electricity bills are paid promptly” he said.

The District Coordinating Director for Amenfi Central Mr. Emmanuel Boateng emphasized that the sustainability of this mechanized borehole is very important and if managed well, would go a long way to help the community in this era of the water crisis.

“Sustainable development encourages us to conserve and enhance our resource base, by gradually changing the ways in which we develop and use technologies. Communities must be helped to meet their basic needs of employment, food, energy, water, and sanitation”.

It is important we use the available resources we have been given judiciously and work towards maintaining it” he said.

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Ekumfi Juice Factory has not shutdown, drought-affected our production – Management.

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Local fruit juice manufacturing firm, Ekumfi Juice, has discounted claims the factory has shut down its operations.

Management of the company says the company only reduced the production capacity as a result of the long period of drought.

The drought, the management explains, affected gravely their raw material base.
Some distributors of the product across the country have complained they were not getting the required supplies from the factory even though they have made an advance payment for the product.

But speaking to Joynews, Operations Manager of the Factory, Frederick Kobina Acquah, revealed the company has not shut down but has increased its pineapple plantation to enable them to deal with the volumes of demands on their hands.

He clarified, “There’s never been a shutdown. This week, for example, there hasn’t been any production because I checked the brix level that we use and realized that we were going to have a small quantity to produce. For me, it does not make economic sense to be pushed to produce small quantities at full capacity.”

He further explained that if the quantities were not up to the volumes that were desirable to the company, they would normally consolidate it in another week.” And that’s what happened this week,” he stated.

He added, “What has happened in the past few months is that Central Region has experienced some long periods of drought- a longer than normal drought. The rains are just coming in and if there’s drought, it affects us in some huge way.”

For the company, the long period of droughts affected their production and pushed them to produce a little lower than what ordinarily they would have produced.

Ekumfi Juice Factory has not shutdown, drought-affected our production – Management
“So, we have not been able to supply our customers, especially, some of our customers who have paid in advance,” he explained

Frederick Kobina Acquah revealed, the break has afforded them the opportunity to expand their production network and they are planting a 5000-acre of pineapple. “And to us, it’s a plus for us. There are more great and exciting times ahead and our customers should expect something better,” he said.

On Wednesday, some distributors of the company’s product would be going to the factory to ascertain the level of production.

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Gov’t allocation to Agric stays below 1% in 4 years.

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Total expenditure allocation for the agriculture sector in the past four years, from 2017 to 2020, has stayed below one percent of the government’s total spending in the economy.

The total spending for the agriculture sector in 2017, which was GH¢384.6million, constituted just 0.71 percent of the entire government expenditure. In 2018 total spending on the sector rose to GH¢502.7million, which comprised 0.79 percent. There was a significant increase in the sector’s investment in 2019 to GH¢635.5million making about 0.86 percent. With GH¢576.9million being expenditure for 2020 constituting 0.68 percent.

These figures depicted the total for compensations, goods and services, and total Capex for the sector during the four-year period.

Indeed, the International Budget Partnership (IBP) – an organization that collaborates with civil society organisations around the world to analyse and influence public budgets in order to reduce poverty – has said Ghana’s performance on African Agricultural Transformation Scorecard (AATS), the Malabo Declaration, currently ranks at 6.67 out of 10 percent.

IBP disclosed that Mali’s (6.82), Morocco’s (6.96), and Rwanda’s (7.24) agriculture sector performance is stronger than that of Ghana.

Although allocation to the sector was increasing from 2017 to 2019, there was a dip in 2020. This phenomenon can be attributed to the government’s refocused attention on health sector spending due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There was a sudden increase in the sector’s goods and services in 2019 to GH¢471.8million from GH¢201.7million in 2017, with a dip in Capex to GH¢91.4million in 2019.

However, this increment has not only been below the committed 10 percent of the total expenditure of government necessary for the development of the sector, but it also declined from about 0.37 percent in 2017 to 0.31 percent in 2020 – with a nearly-50 percentage points decline in 2020.

The year-on-year adverse variations in the requests made by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to support the expansion of the fertiliser subsidy programme, which have been met by fiscal policy caps by the Ministry of Finance, is also worrying IBP said.

This negative variance is nearly GH¢400million in some fiscal periods (2018 and 2019 to be precise), which undermines the strategic intent of MoFA in supporting the country’s food security agenda.

Over the focal period (2015 – 2019), the sector’s recorded under-expenditure is as high as 96 percent in some years, and over-expenditure reached as high as 256 percent in 2018. This not only undermines needed finance for the fertiliser subsidy programme, but ultimately undermines the credibility of policy and the budget in driving a coherent set of activities for all stakeholders in the agriculture sector.

In the case of actual spending, the ratio is at 36.17 percent; and adjusting for current spending, this increases to 50.89 percent. Currently, the government is keeping its act in line, but the ratios need to go up.

Meanwhile, the government’s projected investment plans for the sector have a positive outlook, as 1.5 million farmers are targeted to benefit from the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ initiative in this year, 2021. The target is a significant increase from the total 1.2 million farmers who benefitted from the policy in 2020.

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Nestlé’s commitment to improving the Cocoa sector on course – Badaro.

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Mr Georgios Badaro, Managing Director (MD), Nestlé Ghana Limited has said the company’s ambition of making cocoa more profitable for farmers, eliminating child labour, ensuring quality, and improving the transparency of its supply chain is on course.

That ambition under Nestlé Cocoa Plan (NCP), he explained is to meet the global targets including; climate action, decent work and economic growth, women empowerment, ensuring quality education, and building partnership under the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr Badaro, who spoke to journalists after paying a working visit to some farms at Ayisikrom, in the Suhum District of the Eastern Region, commended the farmers and said it is through their hard work and strong partnership with stakeholders that the NCP programme continues to chalk success.

The visit offered Mr Badaro the opportunity to discuss issues including traceability and alternative livelihood projects with farmers and purchasing clerk.

The NCP, introduced in Ghana in 2015, was being implemented in Ashanti, Ahafo, Central and Eastern Regions by ECOM Ghana and Beyond Beans, to promote good agricultural practices, support elimination of Child labour, using the child labour monitoring and remediation system, prevention of deforestation by cocoa farmers, tree tenure, payment of fair prices through premium and additional livelihood initiatives for farmers.

Mr. Badaro said the programme continued to improve the livelihoods of farmers and their families, enable Nestlé to achieve its aim of sourcing quality beans for production and contributing to nature preservation.

He stated that the programme is important for the company, consumers, farmers, and community and that it is inspiring to see the work done by the farmers on daily basis.

“It is a win-win situation we delight consumers because we know we offer excellent quality, we know that when the livelihood of the farmers and their communities are sustainable then they would continue and even expand over time to ensure quality supply,”

“I always knew it was hard work, but after this visit, I know now that it is not just about dedicating time but knowing what to do, how to cut, and where to cut, I am really inspired by what we are doing to help,” he said.

Mr Daniel Nyarko, Nestlé Cocoa Plan Manager for Ghana said NCP has been a response to the sustainability of cocoa and has operated under three pillars namely better farming, better lives, and better cocoa.

He noted that through NCP support cocoa yield per hector is increasing due to the improved farming practices adopted by farmers.

“With the support of our partners the NCP has six central nurseries and 30 community nurseries that raise multipurpose trees and cocoa seedlings, over two million cocoa plantlets and over 238,000 multi-purpose trees including; shade trees have been distributed to rejuvenate the farms and protect the plantlets,” he said.

Mr Nyarko said the programme is successful in organizing and sustaining Village Savings and Loans Associations to improve the saving culture and financial inclusion of farmers.

Ms. Deborah Kwablah, the Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Manager, Nestlé Ghana said the programme was addressing the temptation of the farmers having to give out their cocoa farms for other undesirable activities.

She commended the farmers under the NCP for the diligence and the hard work they put into producing certified cocoa beans.

Ms. Ana Herrera, the Head of Investor Management, ECOM Ghana, and a member of the West Africa Sustainability Team said they would continue to offer best practices to farmers to boost yield and ensure quality.

Mr. Joseph Danso, a cocoa and cabbage farmer in the Suhum District commended the companies for their support, explaining that he has purchased a tricycle from the proceeds from the cabbage production since he was introduced to the cultivation of alternative crops and encourage other farmers to consider alternative crops to boost their income when cocoa is not in season.

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Danger looms as drought hits Volta Region rice production.

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The site of a rice farm plagued by drought in the Volta Region.

The Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body (GRIB) has revealed that rice production in the Volta Region of Ghana faces bleak consequences this year due to ongoing drought conditions which are disrupting production in some parts of the Region.

According to the body, farmers in the Akatsi North and South districts in the Volta Region have been gravely affected by poor rainfall patterns and are likely to lose their entire output for the 2021/2022 season.

“In Ketu South alone, over 700 hectares of rice have been lost to the drought. “The problem covers several areas including Kpoglu, Avalavi, Klenomadi and Avie in Ketu North, Akatsi in Akatsi South, Tongu Districts, Afadzato South District and Hohoe Municipal areas,” the President said.

This comes as a blow to the sector, which is an attempt to wean the country off rice importation by achieving self-sufficiency in production by 2025.

As if that is not enough, the affected farmers will have to wait till next year before they can earn some income.

Speaking to the reporter, President of GRIB Nana Agyei Ayeh II said some members of the farmers reached out to him to ascertain the situation and find a solution to the looming danger.

The President, together with some of the officials of the John A. Kufuor Foundation paid a working visit to the farms, and on their observation, several hectares of rice under cultivation are lost due to climate change and low levels of rainfall in these communities.

The woes of the farmers are further exacerbated by the huge investments they have already made in land preparation, seeds, and fertilizer.

However, the provisional production figures by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) indicate that about 973, 000 metric tonnes of rice were produced in Ghana in 2020. But, this figure could be hard to match in 2021 if the current situation persists.

Nana Agyei Ayeh II revealed that the existing dam structure which was built to harvest water to irrigate the farmlands is in a dire state of disrepair, leaving farmers at the mercy of the harsh weather conditions.

“We cannot continue with rain-fed agriculture. As you can see, this year, farmers have lost their investments simply because the rains failed them.

We would like to appeal to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to provide dugouts for these areas. These will aid in water conservations for the purposes of irrigation in such times like what we facing now” he added.

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Payment of cocoa farmers to go digital – COCOBOD.

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The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is planning to electronically pay all its farmers to stimulate the digital economy and also ensure the security of funds, a Deputy Chief Executive Officer at COCOBOD, Dr. Emmanuel Opoku has said.

The move which is expected to be piloted at the coming cocoa season and fully rolled out subsequently will mean that no farmer would receive cash for any of the beans sold to COCOBOD.

According to Dr. Opoku, COCOBOD has received several reports about attacks on farmers leading to some losing huge capital and being thrown out of business as a result.

He told a gathering at a Cocoa Value Chain Investment Meeting that, the benefit of the electronic transaction is enormous and COCOBOD would rely on a private partnership to execute.

“Let us assume we are doing 1 million tonnes of cocoa; the price of 1 million tonnes is about GH¢10.5 billion; with 80 percent of this, we would have to issue cash to pay the farmers. We hear of so many criminal activities, armed robbery, and others in the community.

Local buyers are suffering and, in some cases, lives are lost as a result, we are developing a system to change the mode of payment. We are going to electronically pay the farmers; we are moving into a system where the entire GH¢10.5 billion is going to be electronically transacted to the farmers. This would bring some new energy into mobile and other electronic transactions nationwide,” Dr. Opoku said.

Country Director of World Cocoa Foundation, Betty Annan, and the Anglophone Africa Lead, Oswell Kahonde have made a strong case that, the earlier the nation goes digital with the payment of farmers the better for the sectors resilience.

According to them, the sector is critical for the nation’s economy as it employs 2 million people and contributes to 19 percent of all exports. For them, digital payments can help make the sector more efficient, transparent, and secure for companies and people alike.

They argue that with digital payments, instead of giving cash to purchasing clerks, Local Buying Companies (LBCs) can transfer money directly to farmers’ wallets the moment a purchasing clerk digitally records the receipt of their cocoa. This can reduce the LBC’s interest costs by 10 percent or more.

They believe this also offers the opportunity to track their money all the way to the farmer and cuts down the opportunities for theft or the misuse of funds. Also, the move towards digital payments can make it easier for local banks and microfinance institutions to lend to farmers by creating digital, analyzable records, they say.

Already, COCOBOD has encouraged LBCs to start paying their farmers digitally. Several LBCs have begun doing so, and as a result, have seen interest savings and fewer robberies.

The responsible digitization of payments across the agricultural sector is one of the key areas the government wants to focus on in its Cash-Lite Roadmap. This policy initiative calls on key public and private sector players to work together to accelerate the shift from cash to digital payments, including across the cocoa sector.

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