The 2019 National Best Agroforestry Farmer and Chief Executive Officer of Aspassion Farms Ltd, Robben Asare says he is not satisfied with the stakeholder meetings the President and his government held on restoring economic stability in the country.
In response to the press release issued by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture on 30th October 2022 with the title; “Rejoinder: Mr. Senyo Hosi, loss of millions of Ghana cedis in Agricultural
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has admitted that the long delay in the construction of the Pwalugu Multipurpose dam project is as a result of financial constraints.
Speaking at the launch of the Northern Development Authority’s five-year strategic plan in Tamale, Dr. Bawumia said government will look for funds to construct the dam.
“Even though the project is facing financial challenges, we are determined to find the resources to complete the construction of the dam.”
Sod was cut for the construction of the Pwalugu Multipurpose dam project in 2020 and was to be funded with a Sydohydro facility of $993 million.
The project awarded to China Power International group was scheduled for completion four years after the sod cutting.
The project was aimed at addressing the perennial flooding associated with the spillage of the Bagre dam from neighbouring Burkina-Faso and also providing 60MW and 50MW of hydro and solar electricity respectively.
But physical construction of the project at Kurugu in the North East Region is yet to commence after two years and ten months into the project execution period.
Last week, peasant farmers in the Northern part of the country demonstrated over the delay in the construction of the dam.
The farmers expressed fears that the project had been abandoned and called for a probe into it.
Elias Fares, who runs a bakery in a Beirut neighbourhood, is fearful. He has secured sufficient flour to maintain his cabinets stocked for the subsequent few weeks. But he’s involved the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal after Russia’s withdrawal from the settlement will worsen the nation’s meals safety.
“What happens after that?” he mentioned. “Most Lebanese people are surviving on just bread these days, we can’t have shortages again.”
Ukraine accounts for about 10 per cent of the world’s wheat and corn exports, and meals safety specialists warn any interruption in provides will result in additional worth rises, with “catastrophic consequences” for poorer nations already dealing with acute meals shortages.
In Lebanon, bread shortages and skyrocketing costs had been frequent even earlier than the Ukraine warfare. The nation went into financial meltdown in October 2019 and its forex has since misplaced greater than 95 per cent of its worth towards the greenback, leaving it struggling to afford wheat imports.
Reliant on Ukraine for as much as 60 per cent of its wheat, Lebanon acutely felt the affect of Russia’s Black Sea blockade, which halted grain exports from Ukrainian ports following Moscow’s full-blown invasion of its neighbour in February. Long queues shaped day by day at bakeries and supermarkets this summer season as individuals waited to purchase a single bag of bread.
Shortages had been eased after a UN-backed initiative unblocked grain shipments from Ukraine’s southern ports from July. Lebanon’s present provides of wheat are adequate to final two months, “with ships on their way”, in line with Ahmed Hoteit, head of Lebanon’s affiliation of mills.
But final week Russia suspended its participation within the deal. Vessels are nonetheless crusing by way of the Black Sea — the UN mentioned 15 had departed Ukrainian ports on Monday and Tuesday carrying wheat, corn and soyabean meal. Vessels are believed to insured beneath current cowl till the tip of this week, however insurers will not be providing new quotes till an settlement will be made with Russia, in line with a Lloyd’s of London consortium.
The UN mentioned on Tuesday that talks had been persevering with between Russia, Ukraine and Turkey in Istanbul on resuming Moscow’s full participation within the Black Sea initiative. It mentioned it had agreed with the Turkish and Ukrainian delegates that there can be no motion of vessels beneath the settlement on Wednesday.
Moscow’s determination couldn’t have come at a worse time for Ukraine and its grain clients. The nation’s crop gross sales usually speed up across the harvest in September and October, with many countries within the Middle East and Africa build up their inventories at the moment.
Grain costs, which initially jumped after Russia’s transfer, eased on Tuesday, with wheat buying and selling on the Chicago Board of Trade at $8.73 a bushel. However that is nonetheless 50 per cent larger than the 2019-21 common.
David Laborde, senior analysis fellow on the International Food Policy Research Institute think-tank, mentioned any decline in grain flows can be painful for nations akin to Turkey, Lebanon, Sudan and Yemen. “This will exacerbate food insecurity and political tensions in these countries,” he mentioned.
Even earlier than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic and crop failures attributable to local weather change had broken international meals safety. The warfare has hit the poorest nations hardest, with acute meals insecurity now affecting 345mn individuals, mentioned economists.
“Poor countries with high debt which are net importers of food, fertiliser and fuel are in serious trouble,” mentioned Arif Husain, chief economist on the UN World Food Programme. Unless meals and fertiliser flows had been freed up, starvation can be prompted not solely by excessive costs, but in addition availability as farmers struggled to supply meals, he warned. Instead of suspending the Black Sea grain deal, individuals wanted to debate extending it when it resulted in mid-November, he added.
The financial harm wrought by the warfare has been important, particularly for these counting on grains and vegetable oils from Ukraine and Russia. Food worth inflation has soared to 93 per cent in Turkey, whereas multilateral organisations have introduced emergency measures to assist poor nations.
This month, Lebanon’s parliament permitted a World Bank mortgage value $150mn to assist finance its wheat imports. The World Bank has additionally introduced emergency packages for Egypt and Tunisia.
Meanwhile, the IMF launched a “food shock window” — a facility for nations hit by the disaster, akin to an emergency import facility for meals purchases proposed by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization this 12 months. Malawi final month turned the primary nation to enroll, with a $88.3mn settlement beneath the power.
Russia, the world’s largest wheat producer and exporter, is anticipating a report crop this 12 months. But it’s unclear how a lot will move on to world markets as a result of whereas Russian meals and fertilisers are exempt from western sanctions, some patrons and financing banks have steered away from them.
Russia has mentioned it is able to provide 500,000 tonnes of grain on to poor nations. On Monday night time Lebanon’s public works minister Ali Hamieh tweeted that Russia would donate 25,000 tonnes of wheat to the nation.
Losing the security web of Ukraine’s exports is worrying, mentioned Laborde: “We are in a very complicated situation. We need a buffer and to get that [we need] to get Ukraine back into the market. We don’t have a safety margin”.
Even beneath the Black Sea deal, Ukraine’s grain exports had been nonetheless about half their prewar degree. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, many of the nation’s exports had been shipped by way of the waterway, and whereas it has tried to extend the quantity of grain transported by way of canals to Romania’s Black Sea coast and onward, and by prepare to the remainder of Europe, the capability will increase have been restricted.
Failure to resurrect the deal will hit Ukraine’s farmers and their revenues, hampering their potential to supply subsequent 12 months’s crops. This means “we will be carrying the problem into 2023 and 2024”, warned Josef Schmidhuber, deputy director on the FAO’s commerce and markets division.
Back in Beirut, Fares has began making ready for the worst: “I’m worried we’re going to go back to those long lines we saw this summer,” the baker mentioned, recalling that he needed to arrange steel limitations to regulate agitated crowds. “It was awful having to turn so many hungry people away.”
Scientific research has demonstrated that including Moringa oleifera in chicken diets could improve their growth and productivity.
Although all parts of the plant are used for nutritional objectives, the positive results on broilers could be due to the beneficial effects of this plant in terms of phytochemicals, minerals, and vitamins contained in the leaves.
It has been reported that Moringa leaves are rich in nutrients such as iron, protein, carotenoids, and ascorbic acids.
Therefore, its use on animal feed leads to better feed intake and profitability.
Alternatively, Moringa oleifera leaves could substitute traditional harvests for more effective, economic, eco-friendly, and safe production.
Among the positive effects of Moringa oleifera leaves on poultry diets it can be highlighted:
Antimicrobial, anticoccidial, and antioxidant effects
Immune modulating effects
Reduces cholesterol levels in eggs
Better yolk color
Produces healthy enterocytes
Enhances growth performance and carcass traits
A study in broilers demonstrated that Moringa oleifera could “replace soybean at 25% of the total diet without negatively affecting growth performance, feed intake, and feed conversion”.
In another research, broilers supplemented with 5% of M. oleifera leaf meal during 7 weeks ate more feed, gaining more weight, and converted feed more efficiently.
On laying hens, 10% of M. oleifera leaf meal has been recommended as a long-term feed additive, demonstrating a better yolk color without negatively impacting the egg production rate.
The deteriorating effects of galamsey to the country’s water bodies are critical. This has made it difficult for some people at the galamsey areas to access portable water.
Water is one of the most important necessity that should be available and affordable for everyone in the part of the country.
To curb the deteriorating effects of the economy, the economist, Kwame Pianim has cautioned that in two decades to, water would be a scare commodity in the world and countries will fight over water, hence Ghana should start protecting hers.
“In two decades to come, water is going to be a scarce commodity in the world; countries will fight over water. Let us start protecting ours now”, he said.
He said this during the 25th anniversary lecture and dinner of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in Accra.
He called on the general public to collectively assist in fighting the galamsey to prelude the tragedy that is yet to befall the nation.
Following the assertion made by Senyo Hosi for losing millions of cedis for using data from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ministry has asked him to justify the assertion to avert the implications it would have on the Ministry and Ghana’s agricultural sector.
The businessman revealed that he lost millions of Cedis for relying on the data from the Ministry when he decided to go into farming. “When I used data from Ministry of Agriculture, I lost millions,” he said during the 3business agribusiness dialogue on Wednesday October 26.
In a press release from the Agric Ministry, the Ministry is openly inviting Senyo Hosi to answer four (4) pertinent questions “Given the serious nature of the assertions by Mr. Hosi, the Ministry considers it obligatory to seek additional information in a bid to fully understand and establish the veracity of the claims made”, the press release stated.
To help the Ministry achieve this, the Ministry openly invite Mr. Hosi to furnish the entity with responses to the following pertinent questions:
I. The nature of investment(s) into which millions of Ghana cedis were sunk?
II. The source of MoFA data that informed the failed investment(s).
III. Whether there was engagement with any technical directorate or senior official of the Ministry on the specific data related to the investment(s), and
IV. Whether a formal complaint has ever been lodged, verbally or otherwise about the integrity of the data use.
The Ministry is urging Mr. Senyo Hosi to formally and promptly respond to the questions posed, to assist the Ministry investigate the matter and take remedial action if necessary.
French farmers have said their energy costs have quadrupled in some cases which could lead to bottlenecks in the food supply chain.
Farmers union FNSEA warned at a press conference in Paris on Monday that the agricultural sector is at risk due to rising energy costs. The union is demanding that the state “provide concrete answers” so as not to jeopardize food sovereignty.
“Producers are wondering what they can put on consumers’ plates,” warned Sebastien Mery, a senior member of the union.
“Some will make decisions to stop production,” she added.
Currently, small agricultural businesses in France are still not eligible for emergency government aid if their energy costs do not reach 3% of their sales in 2021.
In mid-October, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau promised that the state would come to the aid of “energy-intensive agri-food industries” without laying out a concrete plan.
Till 2030, Africa’s increasing animal protein demand will be huge with poultry being the dominant protein expected to see a 55% increase in demand in the coming decade. The reason behind this is simple: poultry and eggs offer fast cash flow, low feed conversion rates and an ideal model for industry and smallholders scaling up.
“But success doesn’t happen automatically. Producing chickens and eggs is not always easy as the climate conditions can be harsh, the health status can be questionable and chick quality, feed and vaccines are not always guaranteed,” says Vetworks poultry consultant, Hilde van Meirhaeghe.
Optimising performance in poultry.
In the seminar, entitled ‘Optimising performance in poultry’, Van Meirhaeghe explained how to best manage the flock from the very first day the birds arrive at the farm. “There is a lot that you cannot change, but you should focus on the things you can influence.
”According to Van Meirhaeghe, the farmer is the first to observe if the birds are challenged, for example, with heat stress, and he should know what to do and take prompt action to keep the birds happy in their environment. The farmer is also responsible for biosecurity on his farm, which is the best way to keep disease out and make a good profit in poultry production.
“Focusing on the basics is of the utmost importance,” she said, explaining that this starts with the day-old chicks. “You want to know what was delivered to the farm, which means you have to check.”
Chick scoring
Despite it being a tedious procedure, the poultry consultant advises poultry producers to do chick scoring. “This means that you check 10 chicks from 10 different crates.
The details do matter here. Are they of uniform weight; are their reflexes good; are their eyes clear, the navel closed and clean; have the yolk sacs been absorbed, and is their core temperature at 40 degrees? Only when you know the details, can you manage your new flock accordingly and get the best out of it.
”The seminar allowed the attendees to exchange thoughts with the most experienced experts in the Flanders poultry community.
The Flanders Poultry Cluster has the proud support of Vetworks, Poultry World, Geldof Poultry, Evonik, Intraco, Poultec, and Roodbont publishers.
As part of the efforts to help address challenges hampering the cocoa and forestry sectors in the country; Conservation Alliance has taken another judicious step by introducing the Human Elephant co-existence Project within the Kakum Conservation area in the Central Region of Ghana.
