Continuing its well-grounded tradition, Agricultural Manufacturing Group Limited (AMG) has donated a sum of GH¢100,000, 1,200 bags of fertilizers as well as a generous number of nose masks and hand sanitizers toward the 36th edition of the annual Farmers Day celebration.
With this year’s celebration to be held under the theme ‘Ensuring Agribusiness Development under COVID-19 – Opportunities and Challenges’, Communications Manager for AMG, Berchie Isaac Opoku who made the presentation on behalf of AMG at the premises of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in Accra, expressed his belief that the theme for this year’s celebration is most appropriate.
He explained that his outfit, among others, has been particularly impressed by the high level of agricultural output in the nation, despite the significant disruptions particularly to supply chains caused by the pandemic.
He added that this is even more significant when neighbouring countries, with comparable levels of development, are saddled with food insecurity during the period and pledged the continued support of AGM for farmers to boost production in the crop and livestock segments.
He also called for further enhancements to the government’s flagship ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ initiative, which he described as truly impactful.
“We know that COVID-19 has devastated a lot of industries, but we realize that our farmers have been resilient and they have made sure we have experience food security in the country. Our donation is our own small way of expressing gratitude to our farmers and assuring them we will do all that is within our power to support them,” he said.
Minister of State in charge of Agriculture, Dr. Nurah Gyeile who received the donation on behalf of MoFA, praised AMG for its unrelenting support. He stated that the consistent yearly increase, especially of the cash component by AMG, is a sign of good faith and expressed hope that it will continue in perpetuity.
“AMG has always been with us. They have been major supporters every year. It seems that with each passing year the amount keeps rising; you started with GH¢20,000 to GH¢50,000 and today we are at GH¢100,000. I’m sure by the next time a tractor will be added. We thank you again on behalf of the farmers in Ghana,” he stated.
The 36th edition of Farmers Day Celebration is slated for November 6, 2020, at Techiman in the Bono East Region.
Japan Motors Trading Company Ltd (JMTC) has handed over a Yamaha Outboard Motor, Yamaha Water pumps, and Yamaha Motorcycles to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) towards the celebration of this year’s National Farmers Day.
Mr. Abdul-Somad Alhassan Musah, Assistant MD of Japan Motors was present at both the Ministry of Fisheries & Aquaculture Development and the Ministry of Agriculture to hand over the donation to the National Farmers Day Organizing Committee.
Handing over the donation, Mr. Abdul-Somad Alhassan Musah reiterated that the annual support towards the farmers’ day celebration was a key corporate social responsibility on the company’s calendar as a patriotic organization. “We deem it appropriate to support a national course especially considering how important agriculture is for economic development. This is why we have consistently donated towards the farmers’ day celebration”.
“We hope this donation, in particular, will spur farmers to increase their production and get the adequate raw materials to feed the factories and in the long run earn more foreign exchange for the country”.
Mr. Francis Kingsley Ato Codjoe, Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development who received the Yamaha outboard motor, water pump, and Motorcycle donation on behalf of the Fisheries Ministry observed the consistency with which Japan Motors comes forth with the farmer’s day donations which he described as a clear demonstration of a faithful partner to the Ministry and farmers in Ghana.
The Chief Director at MOFA, Mr. RP Ankobiah received the MOFA donation of Yamaha water pumps and motorcycles.
He praised Japan Motors for the gesture. “As you are aware we are in an unusual time with the Covid-19 so many activities were affected as such we didn’t inform companies on time on the celebration. Japan Motors with its consistent attitude still managed to come as a trusted partner. We hope this will encourage the farmers to do more for the nation.” Source: thebftonline.com
The Food Sovereignty Platform (PSP) has expressed disappointment in the Registrar General’s Department, other governmental agencies for not embarking on a sensitisation exercise to stop the discussion of a proposed bill for farmers in Parliament.
According to the group, Parliament currently is discussing the passage of a Plant Variety Protection Bill 2020 which the group alleged was a rebranding of the previous Plant Breeders Bill they opposed in 2013.
Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, November 3, 2020, the Executive Director of Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Victoria Adongo said her team feels disappointed because the government has ignored them.
She emphasised that: “This press conference is to highlight our profound displeasure and sense of betrayal by key government institutions regarding the UPOV compliant Plant Breeders’ Bill currently before the legislative house under the guise of Variety Protection Bill awaiting parliamentary approval.”
She continued that “Our disappointment stems from the long history of our objection to the provisions of the Plant Breeders Bill way back in 2013. On Tuesday, November 11, 2014, the then Speaker of Parliament, Hon Edward Doe Adjaho brought the process to a halt for further consultations with all stakeholders before proceeding. This is was to enable the promoters of the bill to engage in wider consultations with stakeholders to ensure that the provisions of the bill are reflective of the collective goals of the populace and are not inimical to the plights of farmers and food security”.
Victoria Adongo averred that the government did not consult key stakeholders before presenting the bill to parliament.
She continued that her team, as it stands now have been left in the dark as they do not know the content of the bill being discussed on the floor of parliament.
Victoria Adongo also said the proposed Plant Variety Protection Bill 2020 lacks transparency.
“There were no further consultations since then until the ending of the 6th Parliament. It has therefore been our expectation that under the 7th parliament, the cabinet of the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would encourage such consultations before presenting the bill to parliament but unfortunately, the process was bedeviled with lack of transparency, entrenched position, secrecy, and display of bad faith on the part of the Registrar General’s Department and the relevant bodies assigned to conduct what they called a sensitization exercise, resulting in the sneaking of the unknown bill to parliament for their speedy passage on the blind side of key stakeholders”.
She, therefore, called on Parliament to halt all proceedings until they consult all key stakeholders.
The nation’s agriculture sector has come of age and needs a regulatory authority to strategically streamline activities for economic growth, Anthony Morrison, Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana, has said.
According to him, the authority must be akin to the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) or the National Communications Authority (NCA) and clothed with similar powers to enable it to harness the full potential of the sector.
Mr. Morrison, speaking to the B&FT ahead of the Ghana Economic Forum (GEF) to be held at Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel on November 9-10, explained that the authority, among other things, would be able to coordinate all agricultural research done by various institutions and plot a pragmatic vision for the sector backed by prudent timelines and well monitored.
According to data released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the agriculture sector was able to withstand shocks of the coronavirus pandemic and grew by 5.9 percent, whereas industry and services both grew at 5.7 percent in the third quarter of 2019, an indication that, even with the many challenges faced by stakeholders, the sector holds the greatest economic potential for the nation.
For Mr. Morrison, the sector has seen some massive development in recent times (Planting for Food and Jobs among others), but its growth could have been exponential if it was treated as a trade rather than a venture to assure food security.
He told the paper that the introduction of an authority to oversee the production, sales, and marketing of six major tree crops in the country (Crops Authority) is an action laudable but a limitation of the sector’s potential as there are many vested issues that go beyond the six crops to be regulated.
“We need to create the Ghana Agriculture Regulatory Authority, this has been long overdue. If you have this authority, you can now go ahead and create the Ghana Agriculture Information Management System. This can be used to coordinate the activities of all the research institutions connected to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
Agriculture is now a trade: from the seed to the service, to the attraction of consultants, the chemicals, fertilizers, agro machinery, drones and sensors, technology, internet of things, everything that we do is a trade: it is money, no longer a hobby. We need to regulate farming, we need to regulate and make it a big industry and we need to regulate it to boost the economy,” Mr. Morrison said.
He added: “If we emphasize and concentrate on the agricultural sector, which has more than 10 million connected to it directly or indirectly, according to the MOFA facts and figures. What are we waiting for to regulate the industry properly?”
GEF 2020. The Ghana Economic Forum (GEF) is a gathering of Ghanaian business leaders to chart the path to economic prosperity. It is scheduled to take place on November 9 and 10, 2020 at the Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast City, Accra. The event is on the theme: ‘Resetting the economy beyond COVID-19; Building economic resilience and self-sufficiency.’
It is designed to bring together over 500 local and international business leaders to dialogue and chart a clear path for Ghanaian businesses to hone the Ghanaian economy.
This year’s discussions will focus on several areas including energy, agriculture, entrepreneurship and innovation, banking and finance, and other areas crucial to the development of the economy of Ghana.
Source: thebftonline.com
The implementer of the Cocoa Life programme, Mondelez International, has introduced a new technology that seeks to help triple annual yields of cocoa production in Ghana.
To mitigate the effect of climate change on cocoa production in Ghana and help triple the country’s annual yield, a new technology designed to supply yearly continuous water to cocoa farmers has been introduced by Mondelez International, the implementer of the Cocoa Life Programme.
The technology, called the ‘Solar Powered Irrigation System’, is designed to mitigate the effects of climate change by supplying a consistent water supply throughout the year to over 70,000 cocoa farmers under the Cocoa Life Programme.
With this new technology, cocoa farmers will be able to produce throughout the seasons and will not have to wait for rainfall to determine their annual yields.
Speaking at the first pilot project launch of the new technology at Otwebediedua in the Eastern Region, the Head of Cocoa Life Programme in Ghana, Mrs. Yaa Peprah Amekudzi, said the new technology will ensure that cocoa trees get the litres of water needed for high yields throughout the year.
Why technology. Explaining why the new technology was introduced, she said cocoa farmers have over the years complained about the erratic and unpredictable rainfall that continues to affect cocoa production in the country.
As an organization committed to helping cocoa farmers benefit from their work, and also ensure the sustainability of cocoa production, we decided to undertake research on how other countries are able to generate enough water supply for their cocoa production,” Mrs. Amekudzi said.
The research, she emphasized, led to the discovery of the solar-powered irrigation system that has the capacity to supply more than 5,000 litres of water hourly depending on its size.
Mrs. Amekudzi said the irrigation technology’s pilot programme will cover 10 farms within the 6 regions Cocoa Life operates within.
” In all, we operate in 700 communities spread over 18 districts within six regions of Ghana. More than 70,000 cocoa farmers are under the Cocoa Life Programme,” she said.
Mrs. Amekudzi said since the inception of Cocoa Life as a cocoa sustainability programme in 2008, Mondelez International has “consistently worked with our partners, particularly cocoa farmers, to make cocoa production more efficient and sustainable”.
She reiterated Mondelez International’s commitment to continue supporting cocoa farmers to become businessmen and women, and ultimately improve their well-being.
Mrs. Amekudzi added that “With all the policies that Ghana COCOBOD is bringing out, supported by the private sector and cocoa farmers, Ghana can achieve one million metric tonnes of cocoa annually”.
She said next year a multi-million-dollar factory to process cocoa waste will be opened, adding that “this will further boost the cocoa sector in the country”.
Cocoa production. Technical aid and member of the research team at Mondelez International, Edward Kumah, said the introduction of solar irrigation technology will help mitigate the risks associated with climate change.
“When farmers purchase fertilizers and it doesn’t rain, it affects their productivity and ultimately their return on investment,” he said.
Mr. Kumah said Cocoa needs about 30 litres of water per day, and if the water requirements are achieved it will yield fruit throughout the year
The technology has three components: boreholes that serve as a water source; solar power generation; and drip-feeds for supplying the water to cocoa farms.
Farm owner. The farm owner, Mr. Francis Oko Lanquaye, described the new technology as efficient; indicating that since it was installed it has tripled annual cocoa production.
According to him, he used to experience water difficulties due to climate change, which affected his annual yield.
” With this new technology, I do not have to worry about adequate water to supply my cocoa produce,” Mr. Lanquaye said.
The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), OXFAM, and the Friends of the Nation (FoN) has launched a campaign to ensure that adequate resources are allocated to the agriculture and education sectors to propel the country’s growth.
The campaign dubbed: “Promoting Sustained Funding for Agriculture and Education in Ghana” is to drum home the need for more of the oil fund to be infused into agriculture development, in particular, to enable the country to reduce importation.
It came out of research conducted on how the petroleum revenue was benefiting other sectors to the detriment of agriculture and education sectors.
Mr. Benjamin Boakye, the Executive Director of ACEP, said infusing more of the oil fund into agriculture would put more money in the pockets of farmers to reduce poverty.
He hinted that Ghana still lagged behind in terms of research, training, technology, and, therefore, urged the Ministry of Finance to critically pay attention to the agriculture sector.
Meanwhile, Ghana passed the Petroleum Management Act 2011 (Act 815) to provide the framework to manage petroleum revenues after commercial production began in 2010.
The Act prescribes the allocation of a portion of petroleum revenue to budgetary support through the Annual Budget Funding Amount.
Further, the Act requires the prioritization of a maximum of four areas for ABFA funding. The priority areas are relevant to maximize the rate of economic development and promote opportunities to ensure the well-being of all citizens.
Mr. Charles Gyamfi Ofori, who presented the research findings said achieving the objectives requires investments in the priority areas as oil revenues act as additional funds to existing development finance efforts for the government in those areas.
“For almost a decade, physical infrastructure and service delivery in education and agriculture modernization had featured as priority areas for ABFA allocation”, he said.
“While it is important to assess the impact of petroleum revenue on all the prioritized sectors that received petroleum revenue, this study focused on the education and agriculture sectors because these two sectors have the capacity to significantly contribute to economic diversification and provide human capital for economic growth”, Mr. Ofori said.
The African Union (AU), recognizing the importance of the agriculture sector to the economic development of its member states is committed to sustaining its growth and development through the Maputo Declaration in 2003.
The Declaration, among other decisions, directed governments to allocate at least 10 percent of expenditure to agriculture development.
Mr. Ofori said, additionally, African governments made a commitment to sustaining a minimum annual agriculture sector growth at six percent and on education, the United Nations (UN) adopted the Incheon Declaration in 2015 as a tool for ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education.
This Declaration requires governments to allocate at least four to six percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and/or 15 to 20 percent of total public expenditure to education.
However, Mr. Ofori said government expenditure to agriculture and education, based on data under the Classification of Functions of Government (COFOG) from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), showed that Ghana had not been able to meet agriculture expenditure targets as outlined by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
Contrary to reviews from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, data from CAGD indicated that when actual COFOG measures were used, Ghana required an increase in efforts to meet the CAADP target of 10 percent of total government expenditure in the agriculture sector.
Mr. Ofori said the government had done well with education as the sector had met the minimum expenditure benchmark of 15 percent of total government expenditure and/or at least four percent of GDP, amidst persistent challenges.
For over a decade, government expenditure in education had surpassed the Incheon Declaration Benchmark of at least 15 percent of total expenditure.
“Education received much attention from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) allocation than the agriculture sector”, he said.
On average, education had received about 90 percent of its planned ABFA expenditure between 2017 and 2019, compared to 33 percent for agriculture within the same period.
Mr. Ofori said the findings had exposed the need for increased petroleum revenue allocation to education and agriculture to address the challenges they faced.
He said the government must ensure that planned ABFA allocation to the two sectors is fully disbursed.
Just less than three years, a young farmer by the name, Kofi Darko who lives at Akrpong in the Eastern region decided to venture into farming. It was not an easy decision to make. Agriculture is generally regarded as a high-risk economic activity in Ghana. Financial institutions are reluctant to offer financial supports given the precariousness of the business.
“I went to different banks to apply for a loan, but all of them turned me down,’’ Mr. Darko, who is hoping to expand his five-acre pineapple farm subtly said.
The main reasons why the banks have been reluctant in lending to the agriculture sector include high-risk perception of the sector, lack of adequate risk management tools, and existential risks such as diseases, pests, and changes in climatic factors.
Smallholder pineapple farmers are predominantly located in the Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, and Volta regions in Ghana—the ecological zones known for growing the fruits but over the years lack the needed capital to produce on a commercial basis.
Most smallholder farmers living in rural communities have limited access to financial services like savings accounts. As a result, 36% of farmers in Ghana save their monies at home. According to GSMA, only 20% save their money in a bank and 28% save their monies on a mobile money wallet. Others save with village institutions, credit unions, and ‘susu’ (small personal savings) collectors.
Formal institutions like banks are unable to access this information to understand the economic activities of a farmer who is usually regarded as high risk. As a result, Farmers usually secure loans from other informal sources like friends, purchasing clerks (who are also usually farmers), money lenders who charge high interests rate.
“The banks usually informed me that my farming business, even though it looks promising, there is no guarantee that I can repay the loan. I felt that this is not right and even thought of changing my mind,’’ Darko emphasised.
“The banks do not help us because I think they have done some before, and the farmers have failed them, therefore as a farmer applying for a bank loan is usually unsuccessful. The local market is not reliable somehow—it can be that today pineapple sells at the cost of 2.50 cedis, the following week the price reduces to 1.50 cedis, so the bank looks at the fluctuations in prices and decides that if they give you money to do business, the farmer cannot pay back the loan,” says Mr. Emmanuel Appiah, a pineapple farmer and a beneficiary of the drone and precision agriculture project.
However, Emmanuel Appiah, farmer at Nsadwi in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abbrem (KEEA) district has now found immense hope in technology courtesy of drone and precision agriculture to transform his production level to a higher level. The Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension of the University of Cape Coast and partners are assisting smallholder farmers with relevant and real-time information on the pineapple production process required by farmers to produce varieties that are important for the market and in the most productive way.
Drone technology is providing farmers with reliable information based on the farmers’ own land and crops’ requirements to optimize crop production, produce high-quality fruits, minimize production cost, and meet consumer preferences.
“Since I started the programme it has given me more knowledge. Two or three years ago, I had about two or three acres but now only this year, I have planted 6 acres of pineapples and looking forward to expanding even further,” Appiah mentioned.
“If I harvest 2000 fruits of a good size, I can get 3000 cedis and I use that to cater to my family and that is why I am expanding my farm this year,” he added.
The problem of marketing for Emmanuel Appiah’s pineapples has been addressed by the project, thus, the farmer now sells directly to HPW Fresh & Dry Ltd. located at Adeiso 70 km from the capital, Accra. The company is the largest producer of naturally dried mango, pineapple, and whole coconut in West Africa, processing over 20,000 tons of fresh fruit, exporting 2,000 tons of dried fruits.
Instead of relying on extension officer visits and low returns from informal pineapple traders, an information system has been established to link farmers to production and market information – and to each other. The system uses drones (small, unmanned aircraft) that provide feedback information on crop health, performance, and yield estimates and then relay this through a mobile phone platform linking farmers to extension agents, markets, and the university.
“Since we started to sell our product to HPW Fresh & Dry Ltd, I can say that it is far better than the local market. Since I started pineapple farming in 1990, what I get from the company HPW is higher than what I sold to the local market,” Appiah says.
According to him, the project has offered great knowledge in terms of record-keeping, plastic mulch, application of inputs, planting in rows, planting pineapples in intervals, all helping to increase the yield on his farm.
He said that the project has been a lifeline to their economic activity and helping farmers to have a decent living and eventually helping to cater for their households.
“Our pineapples are now directly sent to the market via HPW without any transportation difficulties. At first, we did not have any company to sell to and that created a lot of problems as the post-harvest loss is a concern, but now things are getting better since I have ready markets for my produce,” Mr. Nyame, at Nsadwir said.
“In the past, we did not know anything about nursing of pineapple but due to the project, we now do, and that is helping us to do the right things on the farm which will eventually improve the pineapple production in the long term,” he said.
“Currently, we have access to land for pure organic production of pineapples which will help us to get even more profits to promote our standard of living,” he stated.
He mentioned that since the project seeks to establish a factory, it will help the farmers to deal directly with the team and also not focus solely on pineapples production but also other fruits.
Mr. Zikiru Shaibu, a Ph.D. student who is working on the project said that the project has exposed farmers to market opportunities, therefore, if they should produce more of the pineapples, they would get more income.
“They are making more yields now, they are having good prices which means their income is increasing leading to increase of farm size, getting premium money to support themselves and their families, he said”
To Shaibu, the farmers’ knowledge development in terms of using the right agro-inputs like pesticides, fertilizer, how to use the application schedule, all these knowledge resources have improved. Now they have knowledge on some of the pineapple varieties we have, not only what they grow but new ones to adopt.
Sustainability of the project. Mr. Zikiru Shaibu is specializing in agricultural extension and ICT indicated that the project looks at not only focusing on pineapples production but the entire value chain from inputs, through production, processing, and then marketing, until it even reaches even the consumer.
The project off-take farmers’ products and sell them. We are establishing a processing plant for value addition. The processing plant is at the production stage and we are using drone technology, and mobile phones to enhance productivity. Sustainability wise things being put in place like machines, and other resources to continue with the project. After the project, we would still continue with the activities.
The project is designed in such a way that the farmers would be supported with some materials to establish their own farms so once the project ends, there would still be produced for the market.
Even though the government of Ghana’s new initiative—Planting for Food and Jobs seeks to contribute to the modernization of the agriculture sector, thereby leading to the structural transformation of the national economy through food security, employment opportunities, and reduced poverty, there are many challenges to agriculture, such as climate change, lack of access to input and markets accessibility; lack of basic infrastructure in rural areas, lack of extension services, and the lack of research and development facilities.
The major challenge with sustainability is the technology or inputs, like tractors. There are limited tractors in the central region and the farmers do not get access to them when needed. There are some simple tools that are not available in the country unless there is a collaboration with the Chinese to develop it for you.
Project in perspective
Most of the smallholder farmers producing pineapple variety named “Sugar Loaf” mainly sells at the local market and at low prices, leading to low income. The situation makes pineapple cultivation unattractive. Meeting the demands of the export market and agro-processing industries is one way for smallholders to increase their income level and improve their livelihoods.
The project is therefore using drones and precision agriculture to assist farmers in upscale their pineapple production.
“Aerial views and advice based on index maps generated using drone technology enabled them to be more effective and efficient in managing the farm and ensure improved plant growth and higher yields,” says the principal investigator, Festus Annor-Frempong.
The drone, a Parrot Bluegrass, was used to map the demonstration plot and also captured initial relevant agronomic data of the crops on the field. The map enabled farmers to appreciate the shape and size of the demonstration plot.
The sensors of the drone collect multispectral and Red, Green, Blue (RGB) imagery of the pineapple crops. The captured imagery was processed to generate index maps. These index maps showed the chlorophyll content of individual pineapple plants which were used to estimate the nutrient requirement of plants and provide recommended fertilizers to be applied by the farmers.
Improving farmers’ knowledge and situations. The project team measured the impact of drone technology on farmers’ livelihoods in terms of crop performance which is likely to generate more income and changes in competencies in pineapple production. The experience with farmers with respect to the management of the demonstration plot prompted the team to share knowledge on principles of precision agriculture with the farmers. Farmers learned about the type, quantity, and effect of various elements in a fertilizer and pesticide application, and the need to use these agrochemicals effectively and efficiently without causing harm to the environment.
RGB composite image of pineapple fields
NDVI index map of the same fields
From the RGB images and index maps developed using multispectral imagery, smallholder farmers were able to gain an enhanced bird’s eye view of the demonstration plot. The group discussions helped farmers to discover the relationship between land size and the crop density, land size, and the number of agrochemicals required, and the costs involved in the production of a particular area. The map from the drone technology demonstrated the importance of having clear plot boundaries to prevent conflicts and disputes with neighbours as well as optimization of land use. Hitherto, the traditional process of determining plot boundaries was not as precise, usually being orally transmitted, and depends on the location of natural boundaries such as trees and stumps.
Moreover, the map and size of the demonstration plot from the drone technology enabled farmers to plan various road paths, and the number of ridges to construct on the plot. The pineapple farmers proved to be knowledgeable and well informed in crop husbandry. Farmers were in the position to prepare the land properly to allow the soil to retain sufficient moisture for plant growth and used a bed height of about 20 centimeters with a breadth of one meter, and a length of 100 meters to improve drainage.
The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) maps showed significant changes in the growth of the pineapple plants months after the application of various agronomical practices. The applications were dependent on information from previously obtained NDVI index maps of the demonstration plots. Farmers subsequently planned on the appropriate and adequate usage of agrochemicals based on the colour bands of the NDVI index maps. The different colours on the map signify the health status of the pineapple. For instance, the red colour shows poor-performing crops, yellow coloration shows an intermediate performance, and green colour shows healthy crops and better (expected) yields.
The farmers understand that the red areas on the index map need more attention when applying fertilisers or pesticides. The use of agrochemicals in this way became demand-driven and characterized by location and specific application. Farmers anticipate high yield from the demonstration field as the time sequence of index maps demonstrate a positive change in pineapple growth in response to geo-located crop husbandry practices applied by the farmers.
Precision farming advisory based on drone technology has brought about an improvement in land use and crop performance. More importantly, farmers have developed specific skills and acquired knowledge of innovative technologies for agriculture. For them, it has not necessarily become easier to grow pineapples, but the field’s productivity has improved thanks to acting based on real-time drone-tech generated advice. This confirms that at least in some aspects, drone technology could improve the livelihoods of smallholder pineapple farmers.
“It is a great opportunity given to KEEA farmers to explore as far as modernization of agriculture is concerned. Times and trends are changing and the earlier you adapt to the change, the better for your development. Today, there are a lot of modern techniques ….You require up-to-date information….. I wouldn’t need to pick a vehicle to deliver information to you, today, mobile phones have come to save this great deal. We can now exchange information with ease,” says the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) Director for KEEA, Mrs. Victoria Dansoa Abankwa.
The project is led by the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension of the University of Cape Coast, with the support of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), the MasterCard Foundation, and the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM). The project started in 2018 and ends in 2021.
This story was produced as part of the Africa 21 Media and Journalism in Africa Days 2020: Climate change in anglophone Africa
Richard Scobey, the President, World Cocoa Foundation
The World Cocoa Foundation is scheduled to receive the COVID Hero special award at the 2020 edition of the Ghana Cocoa Awards slated for November 14 at the plush Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast City, Accra.
The organisation through a collective effort with Global Cocoa and Chocolate companies donated to the tune of US$835,000 to help cocoa farmers and their families fight the spread of COVID-19.
The funds were also used to support national emergency plans of governments in West Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) through the funds was able to support health efforts in other major cocoa origin countries, including Brazil, Cameroon, Ecuador, and Indonesia.
Tweeting on the recognition, WCF President Rick Scobey, said “we are honored to receive a special “COVID-19 Hero” award at the Second Ghana Cocoa Awards! Heartfelt thanks”
Aside from the collective effort, individual member organisations of WCF donated millions of dollars in funds used to cushion local relief programmes in the form of emergency medical supplies, PPE, soaps and sanitizers, and healthcare broadcasts through farmer communication channels with most of the money going to Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the biggest cocoa producers.
Also singled out for the COVID19 Hero special recognition is Mondelez International, one of the world’s biggest chocolate manufacturers, which donated a total of GHS1.33 million to various bodies in Ghana in response to the COVID19 pandemic.
ECOM Ghana, a leading licensed cocoa buying company in Ghana is also billed to receive the honour for stepping up to the countries emergency response with 1.2 Million Soaps to some 1.2 Million COCOBOD-registered farming families in all cocoa growing regions of Ghana. The gesture cost a whopping GHS2.4 million.
The COVID-19 Heroes Special Award of the Ghana Cocoa Awards celebrates human endeavour, philanthropy, leadership, and resilience in the face of the unprecedented challenge – the novel coronavirus disease – COVID19 pandemic.
Two new Competitor Analysis reports recently released by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) indicate that massive untapped foreign market opportunities exist for both Ghanaian chocolate and cashew in-shell exporters desiring to operate at the higher end of the value chain.
This comes at a time the Authority is putting in adequate measures to facilitate the doubling of the country’s revenues from the Non-Traditional Export sector to US$5.2 billion by 2022, with the current total earnings being US$2.9 billion.
Regarding the export of chocolate, Ghana’s total earnings of the product and other food preparation containing cocoa recorded an annual income of US$13.4 million in 2019, representing an increase of 16.6% from the 2018 exports of the same product, which stood at US$11.5 million.
Indeed, there has been a gradual increase in the export of the products since 2017. The total earnings in that year recorded US$5.3 million with Nigeria emerging as the largest consumer of the product from Ghana since 2018, controlling about 71.7% of the Nigerian market.
Currently, the global demand for chocolate and related products is more than US$28.62 billion, indicating huge opportunities in the confectionery sector whiles the cocoa and chocolate market size was valued at US$ 44.35 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 61.34 billion by 2027, exhibiting a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 4.4% during the forecast period.
Since taking the full potential in this market is largely economies of scale, GEPA is advising exporters to focus on implementing market penetration strategies in order to attract the various untapped market.
In 2019, the total exports of chocolate from the USA and China were US$1.66 billion and US$331 million respectively. The largest export destination for China in the year under was Hong Kong (22.1%) whiles the USA destination markets were Canada (37.7%), Mexico (13.2%) among others.
Some Industry analysts assert that with the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area scheduled for January 2021 – aimed at increasing intra-African trade from the current 10% to 52% by 2022 – Ghana’s total dominance in the Nigerian market over the past years must encourage Ghanaian chocolate exporters to improve on their economies of scale.
Regarding the export of cashew nuts in the shell from Ghana, GEPA has identified potential growth at the current top export destinations.
With an estimated untapped potential of over US$600 million for Ghana’s cashew in-shell, Ghana exported close to US$400,000 of raw cashew in the shell to six countries in 2019, with Vietnam emerging as the main destination of the product from Ghana.
Although the total import value of the product into Vietnam and India recorded 1.7 million and 933, 000, Ghana’s share in these two countries for the year under review recorded 15.2% and 14% respectively.
However, countries in the sub-region namely Benin and Ivory Coast recorded significant shares than Ghana.
“Explore your existing possibilities in Vietnam and India as the market share of import from Ghana to these markets has to room for growth. Given Ghana’s supply capacity vis-à-vis the demand in Vietnam and India and other variables puts Ghana’s untapped potential in these markets at US$405.97 and US$241.64 million respectively”, the report said.
Torgbui Adrakpanya VI, the Paramount Chief and President of Afife Traditional Council, has asked the government to upgrade the Ohawu Agricultural College (OAC) to a fully-fledged University.
He said an agricultural University would enhance the training of students to provide the needed human resource base in the sector, increase production, add value to produce, and sustain the interest of the youth in the government’s policy on planting for food and jobs.
Torgbui Adrakpanya made the request during a durbar of Chiefs and people in honour of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at Afife in the Ketu North Municipality of the Volta Region as part of a tour of the area by the President.
He said that OAC established 58 years ago was the only institution of higher learning after Akatsi College of Education in the southern part of the region.
He said, “this institution attached to crop and soil research stations is critical for the development of the area since the majority of the people are predominantly farmers.”
Torgbui Adrakpanya appealed to the President to facilitate the construction of the deplorable roads at Afife and Tadzewu, especially the ones that link Afife Senior High Technical School and Afife Health Centre.
He said the Traditional Council had donated 4.5-acre land to the President as a token of appreciation of his visionary and sterling leadership style, which had brought respite to the population and greater laurels to the country.
Torgbui Adrakpanya entreated the President to build a retirement palace for himself on the parcel of land after his tenure and to settle at Afife.
He said the Afife area had seen multiple benefits from the policies, programmes and projects of the government, including school blocks, and health centre
Torgbui Adrakpanya was grateful to the President for the appointment of Mr. Pius Enam Hadzide as the Deputy Information Minister and appealed to the President to appoint more people from the traditional area in his second term.
“We pray for your re-election as President of Ghana to continue your development agenda while promising their support.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said there were plans to upgrade the OAC.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Minister of Food and Agriculture said the government was working to turn Ohawu, Kwadaso, and Odwira Agriculture Colleges into Universities to champion the transformation in the sector.
He said the proposal was receiving attention from some partners in the Czech Republic and reassured the chiefs that the request would come to pass.
