IT has now been established that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Residence and Establishment does not prevent governments of member states from expelling immigrants from other West African countries whose actions are considered a threat to national security.
This follows complaints by some government officials in Ghana and other member countries that the government is unable to expel immigrant pastoralists whose actions pose a threat to peace and security due to the provisions of the ECOWAS protocol.
However, discussions at the two-day Consultative Meeting on Agriculture and Pastoralist Conflicts in West Africa revealed that under the protocol, member states reserve the right to expel these immigrants in accordance with due process.
As noted at the meeting, the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Residence and Establishment, promulgated in Dakar, Senegal, on 29th of May, 1979, stipulates that each citizen of the Community has the right to enter, reside and establish in the territory of member states.
Nonetheless, the Supplementary Protocol on the Right of Residence stipulates that: “Migrant workers and members of their families whose status comply with the residence requirements may only be expelled from the host member state for reasons of national security, public order or morality.”
It further notes that any decision to expel a citizen under the Protocol must be well-founded legally or administratively in accordance with the laws of the member state and in alignment with the provisions of the protocol.
The consultative meeting, which ended yesterday in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, was organised by the West African Network for Peace-building (WANEP) with funding from the government of Finland.
Apart from Ghana and Burkina Faso, there were participants from Nigeria, Togo, Cote de’Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Benin.
A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting however called on member states not to yield to pressure from their people to expel pastoralists, mostly Fulani, from their countries.
Instead, the participants recommended that the governments give due recognition to pastoralism as a form of agriculture and consider ways of harmonising its operations in line with other forms of agriculture and in a manner as to avoid environmental hazards.
They suggested the establishment of entry points and grazing reserves or routes for transhumance to enable them undertake their activities without posing any dangers.
The participants stressed the need for governments in West Africa to institute alternative dispute resolution processes to resolve the emerging conflicts between nomadic pastoralists and their host communities, especially the farmers.
They noted that such processes, such as dialogue, must involve the key actors, including the pastoralists, sedentary farmers, chiefs and community folk at the grassroots, because these people had the solutions to their problems.
The communiqué again stressed the need for member states of ECOWAS to sensitise their people with respect to the need to discard ethnic sentiments against the Fulani.
This, they indicated, was very crucial because part of the problem why host communities were having conflicts with the Fulani was due to the cultural biases and prejudices borne against the Fulani people.
“The Fulani are killers. They are destructive and what not. When you have this in mind, then you cannot stay with the Fulani,” stated Dr Ly Boubacar from the School of Wisdom in Dori, Burkina Faso.
“Yes, they are dangerous. When you provoke them by killing their animals, they would attack you. But why would you want to provoke them instead of dialoguing with them. Every human being would react when he feels threatened,” he further noted.
Monday, February 28, 2011
FULANI MENACE, ECOWAS TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE (LEAD STORY, FEB 23, 2011)
SEVEN Member States of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS), including Ghana, are to adopt a common resolution towards addressing the emerging conflicts between pastoralists, mostly Fulanis, and their host communities.
This follows the realisation that these conflicts have become an international phenomenon in the West African sub-region, particularly in countries where the Fulani herdsmen have found as a suitable destination for their activities.
The countries are namely: Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote de’ Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.
Representatives of these countries are currently meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to strategise on a common mechanism to resolve these conflicts, which have been recognised as an emerging threat to peace and security in the sub-region.
The two-day Consultative Meeting on Agriculture and Pastoralist Conflicts in West Africa, which opened on Tuesday, is organised by the West African Network for Peace-building (WANEP) with funding from the government of Finland.
Participants comprise chiefs, agriculturalists, security and conflict resolution experts and political leaders.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, the Executive Director of WANEP, Mr Emmanuel Bombande said countries in the West African region cannot claim to be unperturbed about this menace due its threat to internal and external security.
“Not only have these conflicts between pastoralists and farmers become an in-country problem, but also a problem between countries,” he noted.
Mr Bombande mentioned that the conflicts between farmers and pastoralists had to do with access to natural resources, particularly land and water.
He said factors like population growth and climate change posed a great threat to agriculture and would thus deepen the conflict between pastoralists and farmers as they struggle to gain control over the earth and its resources.
Mr Bombande pointed out that it was high time Africa took a serious look at these conflicts because about 60 per cent of its people lived in rural areas and depended largely on agriculture.
“If agriculture fails, Africa would be plunged into crisis. Already, there is increasing rural-urban drift due to the declining interest of the youth in agriculture,” he cautioned.
The Chairperson of WANEP, Burkina Faso, Prof Albert Ouadraogo noted that this was the time for Africa to find a lasting and satisfactory solution to these conflicts, before allowing them to rise above control.
“Through dialogue, we should be able to chart a common agenda towards resolving these conflicts in a manner that would be satisfactory to both sides,” he stated.
It has been noted that the movement of pastoralists from the Sahel to the south of West Africa was largely precipitated by the increasing demand for fresh grazing grounds, as the Sahel had been hit by droughts.
Consequently, the Fulani herdsmen moved down south and were attracted to the area by the hospitality of the people and the availability of pasture.
However, they have run into troubles with the local people in recent years due to complaints that the cattle herded by the Fulani were destroying crops, whiles some of the herdsmen were allegedly involved in cattle rustling.
In Ghana, there have also been concerns about environmental degradation and criminal activities by some immigrant pastoralists.
This follows the realisation that these conflicts have become an international phenomenon in the West African sub-region, particularly in countries where the Fulani herdsmen have found as a suitable destination for their activities.
The countries are namely: Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote de’ Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.
Representatives of these countries are currently meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to strategise on a common mechanism to resolve these conflicts, which have been recognised as an emerging threat to peace and security in the sub-region.
The two-day Consultative Meeting on Agriculture and Pastoralist Conflicts in West Africa, which opened on Tuesday, is organised by the West African Network for Peace-building (WANEP) with funding from the government of Finland.
Participants comprise chiefs, agriculturalists, security and conflict resolution experts and political leaders.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, the Executive Director of WANEP, Mr Emmanuel Bombande said countries in the West African region cannot claim to be unperturbed about this menace due its threat to internal and external security.
“Not only have these conflicts between pastoralists and farmers become an in-country problem, but also a problem between countries,” he noted.
Mr Bombande mentioned that the conflicts between farmers and pastoralists had to do with access to natural resources, particularly land and water.
He said factors like population growth and climate change posed a great threat to agriculture and would thus deepen the conflict between pastoralists and farmers as they struggle to gain control over the earth and its resources.
Mr Bombande pointed out that it was high time Africa took a serious look at these conflicts because about 60 per cent of its people lived in rural areas and depended largely on agriculture.
“If agriculture fails, Africa would be plunged into crisis. Already, there is increasing rural-urban drift due to the declining interest of the youth in agriculture,” he cautioned.
The Chairperson of WANEP, Burkina Faso, Prof Albert Ouadraogo noted that this was the time for Africa to find a lasting and satisfactory solution to these conflicts, before allowing them to rise above control.
“Through dialogue, we should be able to chart a common agenda towards resolving these conflicts in a manner that would be satisfactory to both sides,” he stated.
It has been noted that the movement of pastoralists from the Sahel to the south of West Africa was largely precipitated by the increasing demand for fresh grazing grounds, as the Sahel had been hit by droughts.
Consequently, the Fulani herdsmen moved down south and were attracted to the area by the hospitality of the people and the availability of pasture.
However, they have run into troubles with the local people in recent years due to complaints that the cattle herded by the Fulani were destroying crops, whiles some of the herdsmen were allegedly involved in cattle rustling.
In Ghana, there have also been concerns about environmental degradation and criminal activities by some immigrant pastoralists.
INTEMPERATE POLITICAL LANGUAGE, NO CEASEFIRE IN SIGHT (PAGE 12, FEB 19, 2011)
IN spite of calls on politicians to be measured in their language, a top politician in the country believes political rhetoric is rather heading towards the gutter.
Mr Boakye Agyarko, who is the Campaign Manager of the flag-bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2012 general elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, told news reporters in Tamale that he does not see the possibility of an end to indecent political language.
He said he holds this opinion because the use of foul language by politicians is precipitated by the actions of opponents in the political contest, which are considered unpalatable.
He therefore concluded in Twi that: “Se gyae ye en gyae ye-a, gyae ka nsu en gyae ka,” which in English implies that: if those who act (wrongly) do not stop acting as such, those who talk (wrongly) would in similar vain not stop talking.
Mr Agyarko was answering questions from reporters at the sidelines of an inaugural rally by the Danquah Ladies Club, a sub-group in the NPP that is emerging with the goal of rallying women towards victory for Nana Addo in the 2012 elections.
Like some other commentators in the NPP had done, Mr Agyarko defended Nana Addo’s infamous “All die be die” comment, listing a litany of events which he considered as violent attacks on supporters of the NPP.
He stressed that the NPP was very prepared to go the limit with any other party if it was provoked, adding that “Life is what it is. If the fight is in the gutter, then that is where the fight is.”
Mr Agyarko described commentators who called for a ceasefire in the use of intemperate language by politicians as hypocrites.
“Where were they when Tony Aidoo christened the 17 presidential aspirants for our 2008 primaries as 17 thieves? I was one of the candidates,” he stated.
“How many times have Nana Addo not been insulted, and who came out to call for a ceasefire,” he added.
The NPP’s campaign manager also alleged that the government had engaged in certain illegalities that gave the impression that it was preparing its party supporters for violence during the electioneering.
He mentioned, for instance, the launch of a Heroes Fund by the Vice President, John Dramani Mahama, which, in his estimation, was to cater for party foot-soldiers who will be injured during the campaign.
He also alleged the tapping of his telephone conversations, describing as an act of intimidation.
Mr Agyarko reiterated the NPP’s willingness to engage in free and fair elections because the party had confidence in its ability to wrestle the seat of government from the NDC in the 2012 elections, due its campaign message.
“Our message is simple. The NDC campaigned on several promises, but failed to meet these promises when it won power. So, the era of the NDC can simply be described as promises made, promises failed,” he remarked.
Mr Boakye Agyarko, who is the Campaign Manager of the flag-bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2012 general elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, told news reporters in Tamale that he does not see the possibility of an end to indecent political language.
He said he holds this opinion because the use of foul language by politicians is precipitated by the actions of opponents in the political contest, which are considered unpalatable.
He therefore concluded in Twi that: “Se gyae ye en gyae ye-a, gyae ka nsu en gyae ka,” which in English implies that: if those who act (wrongly) do not stop acting as such, those who talk (wrongly) would in similar vain not stop talking.
Mr Agyarko was answering questions from reporters at the sidelines of an inaugural rally by the Danquah Ladies Club, a sub-group in the NPP that is emerging with the goal of rallying women towards victory for Nana Addo in the 2012 elections.
Like some other commentators in the NPP had done, Mr Agyarko defended Nana Addo’s infamous “All die be die” comment, listing a litany of events which he considered as violent attacks on supporters of the NPP.
He stressed that the NPP was very prepared to go the limit with any other party if it was provoked, adding that “Life is what it is. If the fight is in the gutter, then that is where the fight is.”
Mr Agyarko described commentators who called for a ceasefire in the use of intemperate language by politicians as hypocrites.
“Where were they when Tony Aidoo christened the 17 presidential aspirants for our 2008 primaries as 17 thieves? I was one of the candidates,” he stated.
“How many times have Nana Addo not been insulted, and who came out to call for a ceasefire,” he added.
The NPP’s campaign manager also alleged that the government had engaged in certain illegalities that gave the impression that it was preparing its party supporters for violence during the electioneering.
He mentioned, for instance, the launch of a Heroes Fund by the Vice President, John Dramani Mahama, which, in his estimation, was to cater for party foot-soldiers who will be injured during the campaign.
He also alleged the tapping of his telephone conversations, describing as an act of intimidation.
Mr Agyarko reiterated the NPP’s willingness to engage in free and fair elections because the party had confidence in its ability to wrestle the seat of government from the NDC in the 2012 elections, due its campaign message.
“Our message is simple. The NDC campaigned on several promises, but failed to meet these promises when it won power. So, the era of the NDC can simply be described as promises made, promises failed,” he remarked.
NORTHERN CHIEFS READY TO COMBAT BUSH FIRES (BACK PAGE, FEB 16, 2011)
CHIEFS and traditional authorities in the Northern Region have expressed their disgust over the spate of bush fires in the region.
They have consequently resolved to partner the Ghana National Fire Service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other institutions to curb this negative phenomenon, which has become a big challenge to sustainable agriculture and natural resource conservation.
The chiefs, from the nooks and cranny of the region, made this commitment at the end of a one-day workshop in Tamale organised by the EPA to map out strategies for the control of bush fires.
A member of the Council of State, Kpan-Naa Mohammed Bawa, who chaired the workshop, indicated that they as chiefs were the immediate source of leadership in their respective communities and would thus lead in bringing a stop to this canker.
He noted however that the assemblies and the government could contribute significantly to the reduction of bush fires if they enacted and implemented the appropriate national and local anti-fire laws.
“We know there are already anti-bush fire laws, but how well have these laws been implemented and updated to address modern challenges,” he added.
Kpan-Naa also reiterated the need for the government to institute alternative livelihood schemes for rural people, some of whom depended largely on hunting and firewood and charcoal production for a living.
He again called for incentives for traditional authorities who championed the establishment and protection of woodlots and forest reserves.
The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr San Nasamu Asabigi said it was wrong for the chiefs to wait on central government to spearhead the control of bushfires.
“It is you (chiefs) who are recognised as the custodians of the land. Your people see you as the ones who command authority and so they are prepared to listen to you,” he stated.
“If you raise your voice against bush burning and make it a prohibition in your respective jurisdictions, none of your subjects would disobey you. So start the initiative and we as political leaders would see where we can compliment and strengthen your efforts,” he added.
The Northern Regional Director of the EPA, Mr Abu Iddrisu noted that the Ghana Environmental Management Project (GEMP) had provided the opportunity for the chiefs to salvage their lands from desertification.
“With this project, you can submit proposals suggesting effective mechanisms that you have adopted in your areas to halt bush burning and other negative practices that promote desertification and you would receive funding for implementation,” he explained.
The GEMP, which is a five-year Canadian-funded project, is one of the strategies that the government is using to achieve the targets of the National Action Programme (NAP) to Combat Desertification and Drought in Ghana, which was formulated in 2003 in furtherance of Ghana’s ratification of the United Nation’s Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Mr Iddrisu noted that the implementation of this project had moved from the formation of environmental management committees to actual execution of projects.
“Currently, the GEMP secretariat has received over 70 project proposals and would soon be perusing these projects to approve the viable ones,” he mentioned.
Various speakers at the project acknowledged the fact that bush burning was impacting negatively on the livelihoods of the people of the north by engineering the loss of vegetation, soil fertility and biodiversity, culminating in declining crop yields and erratic rainfall.
This year, many rice, mango and cowpea farms have been razed down leaving a lot of hardworking farmers feeling bitter and frustrated.
Already, there is evidence that chiefs in some parts of the Northern and Upper West regions have successfully implemented a non-burning policy in their areas for some years now.
They have consequently resolved to partner the Ghana National Fire Service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other institutions to curb this negative phenomenon, which has become a big challenge to sustainable agriculture and natural resource conservation.
The chiefs, from the nooks and cranny of the region, made this commitment at the end of a one-day workshop in Tamale organised by the EPA to map out strategies for the control of bush fires.
A member of the Council of State, Kpan-Naa Mohammed Bawa, who chaired the workshop, indicated that they as chiefs were the immediate source of leadership in their respective communities and would thus lead in bringing a stop to this canker.
He noted however that the assemblies and the government could contribute significantly to the reduction of bush fires if they enacted and implemented the appropriate national and local anti-fire laws.
“We know there are already anti-bush fire laws, but how well have these laws been implemented and updated to address modern challenges,” he added.
Kpan-Naa also reiterated the need for the government to institute alternative livelihood schemes for rural people, some of whom depended largely on hunting and firewood and charcoal production for a living.
He again called for incentives for traditional authorities who championed the establishment and protection of woodlots and forest reserves.
The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr San Nasamu Asabigi said it was wrong for the chiefs to wait on central government to spearhead the control of bushfires.
“It is you (chiefs) who are recognised as the custodians of the land. Your people see you as the ones who command authority and so they are prepared to listen to you,” he stated.
“If you raise your voice against bush burning and make it a prohibition in your respective jurisdictions, none of your subjects would disobey you. So start the initiative and we as political leaders would see where we can compliment and strengthen your efforts,” he added.
The Northern Regional Director of the EPA, Mr Abu Iddrisu noted that the Ghana Environmental Management Project (GEMP) had provided the opportunity for the chiefs to salvage their lands from desertification.
“With this project, you can submit proposals suggesting effective mechanisms that you have adopted in your areas to halt bush burning and other negative practices that promote desertification and you would receive funding for implementation,” he explained.
The GEMP, which is a five-year Canadian-funded project, is one of the strategies that the government is using to achieve the targets of the National Action Programme (NAP) to Combat Desertification and Drought in Ghana, which was formulated in 2003 in furtherance of Ghana’s ratification of the United Nation’s Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Mr Iddrisu noted that the implementation of this project had moved from the formation of environmental management committees to actual execution of projects.
“Currently, the GEMP secretariat has received over 70 project proposals and would soon be perusing these projects to approve the viable ones,” he mentioned.
Various speakers at the project acknowledged the fact that bush burning was impacting negatively on the livelihoods of the people of the north by engineering the loss of vegetation, soil fertility and biodiversity, culminating in declining crop yields and erratic rainfall.
This year, many rice, mango and cowpea farms have been razed down leaving a lot of hardworking farmers feeling bitter and frustrated.
Already, there is evidence that chiefs in some parts of the Northern and Upper West regions have successfully implemented a non-burning policy in their areas for some years now.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
DABOKPA TECHNICAL GETS CARPENTRY MACHINERY (PAGE 18, FEB 12, 2011)
THE carpentry department of the Dabokpa Technical Institute in Tamale has taken delivery of some machinery to assist in the teaching and execution of carpentry works at the institute.
The machines comprised a combined planer and thickness remover, which is used for smoothing wood surfaces to the desired thickness and beauty, a mortising machine, used for making mortise during construction of furniture and a bench saw, which is used for ripping and cross cutting of wood.
The equipment were presented to the institute by the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA).
According to the Mayor of Tamale, Alhaji Haruna Abdulai Friday, the machines, in addition to other equipment, were supplied to the assembly by the World Bank under the second phase of the Urban Sanitation Project.
He said the assembly had decided to offer those equipment to the institute realising that it would be of benefit in the training of the students and the general operation of the carpentry department.
Mr Friday commended the students of the institute for choosing to pursue technical education, which he noted would build their capacity to choose between becoming self-employed or seeking employment with another entity.
The Principal of the institute, Mr Winstone Kwaku Dogbey said the machines would assist the carpentry workshop greatly by reducing the time and energy used in undertaking the various activities at the workshop.
“Instead of using manual equipment, which is time-consuming and energy sapping, we can now use these electric machines to do the work in a more efficient manner,” he explained, adding that furniture works could also be executed with more beauty with the help of the planer.
The principal later told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the training module of the institute had been enhanced following the introduction of the competence-based approach.
This approach, he explained ensures that the students undertake practical projects to demonstrate and perfect their skills, such as engaging in complete building and furniture construction.
Mr Dogbey said the notion that technical education did not enhance an individual’s capacity to get employment was wrong, and indicated that “many of our graduates are working with master craftsmen, whiles a few are working with industry in Accra.”
“Being employed does not mean getting a ‘white collar’ job,” he added.
The machines comprised a combined planer and thickness remover, which is used for smoothing wood surfaces to the desired thickness and beauty, a mortising machine, used for making mortise during construction of furniture and a bench saw, which is used for ripping and cross cutting of wood.
The equipment were presented to the institute by the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA).
According to the Mayor of Tamale, Alhaji Haruna Abdulai Friday, the machines, in addition to other equipment, were supplied to the assembly by the World Bank under the second phase of the Urban Sanitation Project.
He said the assembly had decided to offer those equipment to the institute realising that it would be of benefit in the training of the students and the general operation of the carpentry department.
Mr Friday commended the students of the institute for choosing to pursue technical education, which he noted would build their capacity to choose between becoming self-employed or seeking employment with another entity.
The Principal of the institute, Mr Winstone Kwaku Dogbey said the machines would assist the carpentry workshop greatly by reducing the time and energy used in undertaking the various activities at the workshop.
“Instead of using manual equipment, which is time-consuming and energy sapping, we can now use these electric machines to do the work in a more efficient manner,” he explained, adding that furniture works could also be executed with more beauty with the help of the planer.
The principal later told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the training module of the institute had been enhanced following the introduction of the competence-based approach.
This approach, he explained ensures that the students undertake practical projects to demonstrate and perfect their skills, such as engaging in complete building and furniture construction.
Mr Dogbey said the notion that technical education did not enhance an individual’s capacity to get employment was wrong, and indicated that “many of our graduates are working with master craftsmen, whiles a few are working with industry in Accra.”
“Being employed does not mean getting a ‘white collar’ job,” he added.
GRAPHIC MUST CONSOLIDATE LEAD - MABENGBA (PAGE 22, FEB 10, 2011)
THE Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba has entreated the management of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) to remain steadfast in steering the company towards further growth.
According to him, the lead established by the company in the media industry was unmatched and, thus, needed to be consolidated to serve as a lesson for other players in the industry.
Mr Mabengba made these remarks when he held discussions with the Northern Zonal Manager of the GCGL, Mr Michael Kofi Baga at the Northern Regional Co-ordinating Council.
The talks focused on the operations of the GCGL, its contribution to the country’s democracy and its role in highlighting the development challenges facing the north.
Mr Mabengba noted that the rise of Graphic had brought some competition into the media industry as some of the media outlets were working towards expanding their operations to keep up with the competition.
He again observed that the success story of Graphic was a general indication of the capability of Ghanaian companies to succeed in spite of the odds.
The minister also commented on the work of the writing staff of the Graphic, particularly those who served in the three northern regions.
“Your reporters have tried to report the truth at all times and they have also tried to avoid sensationalism and exaggeration of conflicts,” he noted.
The minister however entreated the management of the GCGL to work towards ensuring the early delivery of its papers to Wa, Tamale and Bolga in the three regions of the north.
He said the situation where the Daily Graphic and other papers published by the GCGL got to these three towns in the afternoon or later was inappropriate.
Mr Mabengba said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government would continue to expand the frontiers of media freedom by promoting the independence of the media.
“We also expect that the operators would enjoy this constitutional freedom in a responsible manner,” he added.
Mr Baga pledged to convey the thoughts of the minister to the management and assured that the delay in the delivery of papers to the three northern regions would be addressed in due time.
He mentioned the new press project being developed by the GCGL, which he noted would enable the company enhance the quality of printing.
According to him, the lead established by the company in the media industry was unmatched and, thus, needed to be consolidated to serve as a lesson for other players in the industry.
Mr Mabengba made these remarks when he held discussions with the Northern Zonal Manager of the GCGL, Mr Michael Kofi Baga at the Northern Regional Co-ordinating Council.
The talks focused on the operations of the GCGL, its contribution to the country’s democracy and its role in highlighting the development challenges facing the north.
Mr Mabengba noted that the rise of Graphic had brought some competition into the media industry as some of the media outlets were working towards expanding their operations to keep up with the competition.
He again observed that the success story of Graphic was a general indication of the capability of Ghanaian companies to succeed in spite of the odds.
The minister also commented on the work of the writing staff of the Graphic, particularly those who served in the three northern regions.
“Your reporters have tried to report the truth at all times and they have also tried to avoid sensationalism and exaggeration of conflicts,” he noted.
The minister however entreated the management of the GCGL to work towards ensuring the early delivery of its papers to Wa, Tamale and Bolga in the three regions of the north.
He said the situation where the Daily Graphic and other papers published by the GCGL got to these three towns in the afternoon or later was inappropriate.
Mr Mabengba said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government would continue to expand the frontiers of media freedom by promoting the independence of the media.
“We also expect that the operators would enjoy this constitutional freedom in a responsible manner,” he added.
Mr Baga pledged to convey the thoughts of the minister to the management and assured that the delay in the delivery of papers to the three northern regions would be addressed in due time.
He mentioned the new press project being developed by the GCGL, which he noted would enable the company enhance the quality of printing.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
PLASTIC WASTE RECYCLING PROJECT YIELDS RESULTS (PAGE 11, FEB 8, 2011)
IT was about five minutes to 10:00am and I was driving to the workshop of Ellen Seldenthuis, a Dutch woman who has set up a workshop in Tamale to engage people in recycling plastic waste into usable items.
As I drove through the alley leading to her workshop, I could not see even a single sachet water bag on the floor, which is unusual of Ghanaian cities like Tamale.
I said to myself that if only one day Tamale and indeed, all cities in Ghana could be like this, how beautiful they would be.
I got to the shop at exactly 10:10am and, as usual, the workshop was buzzing with activity: sowing, sorting, arranging, etc.
“Dasiba,” I greeted, which means Good morning in Dagbani. “N-naa,” Ellen and her team of staff responded.
I was welcomed and given a bench to sit whiles Ellen, who prefers to be called Ibrahim Salimatu, made arrangements to join me for an interview, which we had discussed about the first time I visited.
She was looking very Ghanaian as she wore a nicely-designed African fabric, which the rest of the staffs were also wearing.
“This is our uniform,” she told me. “We wear it on special occasions,” she added.
When the interview started, I asked Salimatu what she was doing in Tamale.
“Well, I have been in Ghana for the past seven years. I worked in Nkoranza where I helped people recovering from mental illness to acquire vocational skills and then I went to the children’s home to help in the upkeep of the children.
“I decided to come to Tamale because I had heard a lot about Tamale and I thought it was about time I came to take up a new challenge in this lovely city,” she stated.
According to her, she loves to introduce or help develop something worthwhile and leave it for others to continue. “So I make myself jobless and look for a new challenge,” she remarked.
Salimatu mentioned that the idea of setting up a workshop to recycle plastic waste into usable items was an afterthought.
Initially, she decided to start a project to coach children on how to keep their surroundings clean and more particularly free of sachet water bags.
“Somewhere along the way, I thought it would rather be more effective to find a way to recycle the sachet water bags so that when we start the education, the children would know what to do with the bags,” she explained.
“So with the help of some donors in Holland, I was able to set up the workshop and I employed only three people to help me,” she mentioned.
That was in August, 2010, she told me. Today, Salimatu’s workshop, which is housed in a metal container and situated at Dagbondab-ba Fong a prominent suburb of Tamale, has made tremendous progress.
The staff strength has risen from three to thirteen (13). The workshop recycles plastic waste, such as sachet water bags and ice cream packs, into school bags, market bags, handbags, purses, shoe rags, caps and raincoats, among others.
Salimatu runs her plastic waste recycling workshop under her non-governmental organisation, known as Tuma Viela (Work is good), and she gives a daily allowance to her employees.
The main focus of the project, according to her, is to clean up the streets of Tamale, educate school children on how to take better care of their environment and to put smiles on many children’s faces by rewarding them with a school bag for helping to make Tamale a better and cleaner place to live.
It is interesting to note that Salimatu charges nothing for the items her workshop produces. All one has to do is to bring the right quantity and choice of plastic waste and demand for a product.
According to Salimatu, one needs to bring at least 250 bags for the making of a school bag, small shopping bag or handbag. Items like raincoats and clothing bags require up to 500 bags, whiles 50 bags are required to produce a purse and other small items.
As she elaborated on this point, young Mubarak walked in with 500 sachet water bags stuffed into a school bag and asked that a clothing bag, nicknamed ‘Ghana must go’ or ‘Alabusa’ in Dagbani, be made for his mother.
The recycling process at Salimatu’s workshop goes through several stages. The process starts with the assembling of the bags, followed by the cut-opening and washing of each bag.
The bags are dried and later sown together to form a long strip of material, before being used to sow a design.
Salimatu indicated that it takes a whole day to form 12 yards of the plastic waste material and it involves about nine people. This, she explained, shows how labour-intensive and time consuming it is to engage in the process of recycling plastic waste.
She concludes therefore that pricing the items would make them unaffordable because the amount would take into consideration all the factors that go into production.
Indeed, there are several angles to Salimatu’s initiative, which need to be appreciated on their merits. First of all, the recycling of waste materials is an important step towards environmental sustainability and sanitation.
According to environment experts, plastic waste materials are classified as non-biodegradable materials and they can stay in the soil for as long as 100 years and over.
Non-biodegradable materials impact negatively on the environment because they damage living things, reduce soil fertility and destroy the landscape.
Managing plastic waste has been a big challenge to the country and experts are still exploring ways of starting an effective recycling industry in Ghana.
Although re-using plastic waste is not the long-term effective solution, it is a temporal solution to the menace of plastic waste. In just about five months when the project commenced, over 500,000 water sachet bags had been gathered by a total of 2051 children in Tamale, Salimatu revealed.
A second angle to Salimatu’s initiative is the job creation aspect of her work. As noted earlier, Salimatu has employed 13 workers, 11 women and two men. The question is what would these workers have been doing if they were not employed by Salimatu? Would they be on the streets begging? Would they join others to commit robbery? These were some of the questions I posed to some of them.
“I really don’t know what I would have been doing by now,” 30-year old mother of two, Amina Aminu told me.
She said since she joined the workshop as a trainee, she has been able to make some few cedis to cater for the needs of her two children, one of whom lost the daddy some few years back.
Amina, who was almost about to shed tears, described Salimatu as her “everything,” adding that without Salimatu, she would have been in serious predicament.
I asked her how she got into the workshop and she explained that she was passing by the workshop one morning when she saw an acquaintance who was working in the shop.
“I expressed interest and she asked me to speak to the white lady. I spoke to her and initially, she resisted, but realising that I was pregnant and desperate for employment, she accepted me into her workshop,” she narrated.
Another employee, Adam Latif, 25, who is one of the two males working at the workshop, told me that he joined the workshop about a year ago through the support of a friend of his.
“My friend leaves in the house adjacent to the workshop and I complained to him that I was not making headway in my work,” he said.
According to Latif, he trained as a tailor and a furniture maker, but was finding things difficult because his family could not support him.
“This work is good for me because I am able to get some money to cater for my needs,” he stated.
What would be the fate of these employees when this project folds up?
The third angle to the recycling project is the positive socialisation and education aspect. Salimatu’s project is training children in Tamale to be environmentally friendly in a unique manner. They get rewarded for ridding their surroundings of plastic waste.
In spite of the good work she and her group are rendering, it appears the political and institutional leadership in Ghana and Tamale in particular have shown very little interest in the project.
I asked Salimatu if any political or institutional head had offered to support the project and she answered in the negative, although she indicated that she had met with the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Tamale, Alhaji Abdulai Haruna Friday, who commended her for the initiative.
When contacted, the MCE confirmed having been introduced to the project and added that he had asked Salimatu to return to his office for subsequent discussions.
What remains unknown is when this project would fold up, because as Ellen mentioned earlier, she is operating the workshop with donor funding, which is not sustainable.
“I hope the people and leaders of Tamale would champion this idea when I leave,” she told me, as our 40-minute-long interview came to an end.
As I drove through the alley leading to her workshop, I could not see even a single sachet water bag on the floor, which is unusual of Ghanaian cities like Tamale.
I said to myself that if only one day Tamale and indeed, all cities in Ghana could be like this, how beautiful they would be.
I got to the shop at exactly 10:10am and, as usual, the workshop was buzzing with activity: sowing, sorting, arranging, etc.
“Dasiba,” I greeted, which means Good morning in Dagbani. “N-naa,” Ellen and her team of staff responded.
I was welcomed and given a bench to sit whiles Ellen, who prefers to be called Ibrahim Salimatu, made arrangements to join me for an interview, which we had discussed about the first time I visited.
She was looking very Ghanaian as she wore a nicely-designed African fabric, which the rest of the staffs were also wearing.
“This is our uniform,” she told me. “We wear it on special occasions,” she added.
When the interview started, I asked Salimatu what she was doing in Tamale.
“Well, I have been in Ghana for the past seven years. I worked in Nkoranza where I helped people recovering from mental illness to acquire vocational skills and then I went to the children’s home to help in the upkeep of the children.
“I decided to come to Tamale because I had heard a lot about Tamale and I thought it was about time I came to take up a new challenge in this lovely city,” she stated.
According to her, she loves to introduce or help develop something worthwhile and leave it for others to continue. “So I make myself jobless and look for a new challenge,” she remarked.
Salimatu mentioned that the idea of setting up a workshop to recycle plastic waste into usable items was an afterthought.
Initially, she decided to start a project to coach children on how to keep their surroundings clean and more particularly free of sachet water bags.
“Somewhere along the way, I thought it would rather be more effective to find a way to recycle the sachet water bags so that when we start the education, the children would know what to do with the bags,” she explained.
“So with the help of some donors in Holland, I was able to set up the workshop and I employed only three people to help me,” she mentioned.
That was in August, 2010, she told me. Today, Salimatu’s workshop, which is housed in a metal container and situated at Dagbondab-ba Fong a prominent suburb of Tamale, has made tremendous progress.
The staff strength has risen from three to thirteen (13). The workshop recycles plastic waste, such as sachet water bags and ice cream packs, into school bags, market bags, handbags, purses, shoe rags, caps and raincoats, among others.
Salimatu runs her plastic waste recycling workshop under her non-governmental organisation, known as Tuma Viela (Work is good), and she gives a daily allowance to her employees.
The main focus of the project, according to her, is to clean up the streets of Tamale, educate school children on how to take better care of their environment and to put smiles on many children’s faces by rewarding them with a school bag for helping to make Tamale a better and cleaner place to live.
It is interesting to note that Salimatu charges nothing for the items her workshop produces. All one has to do is to bring the right quantity and choice of plastic waste and demand for a product.
According to Salimatu, one needs to bring at least 250 bags for the making of a school bag, small shopping bag or handbag. Items like raincoats and clothing bags require up to 500 bags, whiles 50 bags are required to produce a purse and other small items.
As she elaborated on this point, young Mubarak walked in with 500 sachet water bags stuffed into a school bag and asked that a clothing bag, nicknamed ‘Ghana must go’ or ‘Alabusa’ in Dagbani, be made for his mother.
The recycling process at Salimatu’s workshop goes through several stages. The process starts with the assembling of the bags, followed by the cut-opening and washing of each bag.
The bags are dried and later sown together to form a long strip of material, before being used to sow a design.
Salimatu indicated that it takes a whole day to form 12 yards of the plastic waste material and it involves about nine people. This, she explained, shows how labour-intensive and time consuming it is to engage in the process of recycling plastic waste.
She concludes therefore that pricing the items would make them unaffordable because the amount would take into consideration all the factors that go into production.
Indeed, there are several angles to Salimatu’s initiative, which need to be appreciated on their merits. First of all, the recycling of waste materials is an important step towards environmental sustainability and sanitation.
According to environment experts, plastic waste materials are classified as non-biodegradable materials and they can stay in the soil for as long as 100 years and over.
Non-biodegradable materials impact negatively on the environment because they damage living things, reduce soil fertility and destroy the landscape.
Managing plastic waste has been a big challenge to the country and experts are still exploring ways of starting an effective recycling industry in Ghana.
Although re-using plastic waste is not the long-term effective solution, it is a temporal solution to the menace of plastic waste. In just about five months when the project commenced, over 500,000 water sachet bags had been gathered by a total of 2051 children in Tamale, Salimatu revealed.
A second angle to Salimatu’s initiative is the job creation aspect of her work. As noted earlier, Salimatu has employed 13 workers, 11 women and two men. The question is what would these workers have been doing if they were not employed by Salimatu? Would they be on the streets begging? Would they join others to commit robbery? These were some of the questions I posed to some of them.
“I really don’t know what I would have been doing by now,” 30-year old mother of two, Amina Aminu told me.
She said since she joined the workshop as a trainee, she has been able to make some few cedis to cater for the needs of her two children, one of whom lost the daddy some few years back.
Amina, who was almost about to shed tears, described Salimatu as her “everything,” adding that without Salimatu, she would have been in serious predicament.
I asked her how she got into the workshop and she explained that she was passing by the workshop one morning when she saw an acquaintance who was working in the shop.
“I expressed interest and she asked me to speak to the white lady. I spoke to her and initially, she resisted, but realising that I was pregnant and desperate for employment, she accepted me into her workshop,” she narrated.
Another employee, Adam Latif, 25, who is one of the two males working at the workshop, told me that he joined the workshop about a year ago through the support of a friend of his.
“My friend leaves in the house adjacent to the workshop and I complained to him that I was not making headway in my work,” he said.
According to Latif, he trained as a tailor and a furniture maker, but was finding things difficult because his family could not support him.
“This work is good for me because I am able to get some money to cater for my needs,” he stated.
What would be the fate of these employees when this project folds up?
The third angle to the recycling project is the positive socialisation and education aspect. Salimatu’s project is training children in Tamale to be environmentally friendly in a unique manner. They get rewarded for ridding their surroundings of plastic waste.
In spite of the good work she and her group are rendering, it appears the political and institutional leadership in Ghana and Tamale in particular have shown very little interest in the project.
I asked Salimatu if any political or institutional head had offered to support the project and she answered in the negative, although she indicated that she had met with the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Tamale, Alhaji Abdulai Haruna Friday, who commended her for the initiative.
When contacted, the MCE confirmed having been introduced to the project and added that he had asked Salimatu to return to his office for subsequent discussions.
What remains unknown is when this project would fold up, because as Ellen mentioned earlier, she is operating the workshop with donor funding, which is not sustainable.
“I hope the people and leaders of Tamale would champion this idea when I leave,” she told me, as our 40-minute-long interview came to an end.
Monday, February 7, 2011
DON'T CONCEAL CASES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (PAGE 11, FEB 5, 2011)
THE Northern Regional Population Officer, Chief Issahaku Amadu Alhassan has cautioned opinion leaders and family heads in the region against interference in the handling of cases involving domestic violence.
According to him, helping to conceal cases of domestic abuse amounted to promoting crime and also emboldens the abusers to repeat such acts with impunity.
Chief Alhassan gave the warning when he addressed a male-dominated forum organised by the Department of Women to discuss ways of reducing gender-based violence in the region.
Mr Alhassan noted that persons who interfered in cases of domestic abuse were helping to promote such illegal acts instead of helping to curb it.
“If you prevent a case from being reported to the appropriate institution for redress, then you are telling the abusers that each time they act that way, you would intervene to keep them away from prosecution,” he stated.
Chief Alhassan also encouraged the men to adopt practices that would help prevent the occurrence of domestic violence, such as family planning, spousal communication and joint decision making.
He explained that family planning was one way to help decrease the incidence of domestic violence because it enabled men to have a sizeable family which they can manage.
He said when men fail to plan their families, they end up giving birth to many children and therefore are unable to cater for the needs of all of them because their incomes are too meagre to meet such needs.
“This leads to child neglect and non-maintenance, which are all forms of domestic violence,” Chief Alhassan noted.
He again mentioned that marrying many wives when one did not have the financial muscle to cater for all of them was a sure way to becoming an irresponsible husband.
The population officer also urged men in the region to respect the political and decision-making rights of their wives.
He said women had the right to join political parties of their choice and participate in governance to enable them contribute positively to the development of their communities.
The participants expressed regret that men had been tugged as abusers because many cases of domestic abuse reported had men as the abusers, whiles women and children were the victims.
They noted that some of the women were the cause of such acts meted on them because they were irresponsible in their speech and actions.
The participants however admitted that irrespective of the actions of their wives, they had no right under the law to abuse their wives and were rather supposed to seek redress when they felt abused by their wives.
Some of them also observed that the cultural environment they found themselves in made it difficult for them to report to the police when they are abused by their wives.
They explained that women were perceived to be the weaker sex and so society was fast to brand men who were abused by their wives as weak and not fit to be man.
“And no man would like to be seen as a weak man, so he is compelled to try to discipline the wife, thereby leading to domestic abuse,” one of the participants stated.
According to him, helping to conceal cases of domestic abuse amounted to promoting crime and also emboldens the abusers to repeat such acts with impunity.
Chief Alhassan gave the warning when he addressed a male-dominated forum organised by the Department of Women to discuss ways of reducing gender-based violence in the region.
Mr Alhassan noted that persons who interfered in cases of domestic abuse were helping to promote such illegal acts instead of helping to curb it.
“If you prevent a case from being reported to the appropriate institution for redress, then you are telling the abusers that each time they act that way, you would intervene to keep them away from prosecution,” he stated.
Chief Alhassan also encouraged the men to adopt practices that would help prevent the occurrence of domestic violence, such as family planning, spousal communication and joint decision making.
He explained that family planning was one way to help decrease the incidence of domestic violence because it enabled men to have a sizeable family which they can manage.
He said when men fail to plan their families, they end up giving birth to many children and therefore are unable to cater for the needs of all of them because their incomes are too meagre to meet such needs.
“This leads to child neglect and non-maintenance, which are all forms of domestic violence,” Chief Alhassan noted.
He again mentioned that marrying many wives when one did not have the financial muscle to cater for all of them was a sure way to becoming an irresponsible husband.
The population officer also urged men in the region to respect the political and decision-making rights of their wives.
He said women had the right to join political parties of their choice and participate in governance to enable them contribute positively to the development of their communities.
The participants expressed regret that men had been tugged as abusers because many cases of domestic abuse reported had men as the abusers, whiles women and children were the victims.
They noted that some of the women were the cause of such acts meted on them because they were irresponsible in their speech and actions.
The participants however admitted that irrespective of the actions of their wives, they had no right under the law to abuse their wives and were rather supposed to seek redress when they felt abused by their wives.
Some of them also observed that the cultural environment they found themselves in made it difficult for them to report to the police when they are abused by their wives.
They explained that women were perceived to be the weaker sex and so society was fast to brand men who were abused by their wives as weak and not fit to be man.
“And no man would like to be seen as a weak man, so he is compelled to try to discipline the wife, thereby leading to domestic abuse,” one of the participants stated.
12 COMPANIES GRANTED IRON MINING RIGHTS (BACK PAGE, FEB 4, 2011)
A BATTLE for Ghana’s iron ore is gradually hitting up as 12 companies are fronting for the licences to begin the mining of the iron ore deposits located in Sheini in the Zabzugu/Tatale district of the Northern Region.
According to the Minerals Commission, the 12 companies were given due diligence permits and this allows each one of them to search for the mineral within the area by geo-chemical and photo-geological surveys or other remote sensing techniques within a specified period of time.
Six of the companies received their licences in 2008 and they are Gold Coast Resources Limited, Marula Mines Ghana Limited, Integrated Metals Limited, Azumah Metals Ghana Limited, Inland Ghana Mines Limited and Minergy Resources Limited.
The other companies that were given the permits in 2010 are Pan African Minerals Company Limited, RSP International Ghana Limited, Compass Resources Limited, Emmaland Resources Limited, Wesun-Lu Ghana Mining Limited and Trans Global Drilling, Energy Exploration Limited.
Already, one of the companies fronting for the licence, Emmaland Resources Limited and its Canadian partners, Cardero Resources, have undertaken some projects in the district to demonstrate their readiness to help develop the town when given the licence.
The two companies are renovating the Presidential Lodge of the district assembly and also rehabilitating the road from Zabzugu to Sheini, which is about 13 miles.
A visit to the site also revealed that the two companies were on the rocky-hills of Sheini gathering geo-chemical information on the iron ore deposits in the area.
The Senior Geologist on the site, Dr Karel Maly said the workers had dug about 50 trenches on the site to enable them extract the samples, which would be tested in due course.
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be extracted. It is therefore the predominant source of raw materials for the production of steel.
Information available on the Mining Portal of Ghana indicates that there are three main iron ore deposits in Ghana, which are yet to be exploited and they are Shieni, Oppong Mansi and Pudo.
It notes that recent discoveries of iron ore deposits have also been made at Adum Banso in the Western Region, which is yet to be fully evaluated.
If the iron ore mining operation kick-starts in Sheini, the Zabzugu area would see tremendous transformation since the project would come along with other major infrastructural developments, such as the construction of roads and railway lines.
There is also avenue for employment creation as thousands of people would be employed to work in the mines and other allied businesses.
In an interview, the District Chief Executive for Zabzugu-Tatale, Mr Umar Abdul-Wahab noted that the district was hoping that the licence would be given to any of the companies that had shown the capacity to operate the Sheini mines.
“What we are interested in is a company that has both technical and financial wherewithal to operate the mines and at the same time, be socially and environmentally friendly,” he stated.
According to the Minerals Commission, the 12 companies were given due diligence permits and this allows each one of them to search for the mineral within the area by geo-chemical and photo-geological surveys or other remote sensing techniques within a specified period of time.
Six of the companies received their licences in 2008 and they are Gold Coast Resources Limited, Marula Mines Ghana Limited, Integrated Metals Limited, Azumah Metals Ghana Limited, Inland Ghana Mines Limited and Minergy Resources Limited.
The other companies that were given the permits in 2010 are Pan African Minerals Company Limited, RSP International Ghana Limited, Compass Resources Limited, Emmaland Resources Limited, Wesun-Lu Ghana Mining Limited and Trans Global Drilling, Energy Exploration Limited.
Already, one of the companies fronting for the licence, Emmaland Resources Limited and its Canadian partners, Cardero Resources, have undertaken some projects in the district to demonstrate their readiness to help develop the town when given the licence.
The two companies are renovating the Presidential Lodge of the district assembly and also rehabilitating the road from Zabzugu to Sheini, which is about 13 miles.
A visit to the site also revealed that the two companies were on the rocky-hills of Sheini gathering geo-chemical information on the iron ore deposits in the area.
The Senior Geologist on the site, Dr Karel Maly said the workers had dug about 50 trenches on the site to enable them extract the samples, which would be tested in due course.
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be extracted. It is therefore the predominant source of raw materials for the production of steel.
Information available on the Mining Portal of Ghana indicates that there are three main iron ore deposits in Ghana, which are yet to be exploited and they are Shieni, Oppong Mansi and Pudo.
It notes that recent discoveries of iron ore deposits have also been made at Adum Banso in the Western Region, which is yet to be fully evaluated.
If the iron ore mining operation kick-starts in Sheini, the Zabzugu area would see tremendous transformation since the project would come along with other major infrastructural developments, such as the construction of roads and railway lines.
There is also avenue for employment creation as thousands of people would be employed to work in the mines and other allied businesses.
In an interview, the District Chief Executive for Zabzugu-Tatale, Mr Umar Abdul-Wahab noted that the district was hoping that the licence would be given to any of the companies that had shown the capacity to operate the Sheini mines.
“What we are interested in is a company that has both technical and financial wherewithal to operate the mines and at the same time, be socially and environmentally friendly,” he stated.
EXPERTS MEET IN TAMALE TO IMPROVE AGRIC LINKAGES (PAGE 18, FEB 4, 2011)
IT is an undeniable fact that agricultural is the backbone of the nation’s economy. According to the Ghana Statistical Service, agriculture contributed 34.1 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009.
More than 50 per cent of the country’s labour force was also estimated to be in the agricultural sector, as indicated by the 2000 Population and Housing Census.
In spite of this, many farmers in Ghana remain poor and, generally, agriculture appears to be unattractive to many people.
One of the reasons identified as contributing to this poverty among farmers is the absence of a functioning value chain system, which guarantees them of a ready market for their produce.
In their publication – “A Handbook for Value Chain Research” (2000) – Raphael Kaplinsky and Mike Morris, describe value chains as “the full range of activities which are required to bring a product or service from conception, through the different phases of production to delivery to the final consumer and final disposal after use.”
Thus, from the input dealer to the farmer, the middleman (if any), the marketer, the buyer and the consumer, there must be some form of understanding between the actors and networking that facilitates the entire process.
At every stage, premium is placed on value-addition and market demand for the product. The absence of these linkages has therefore been identified as the bane of Ghana’s agriculture. Farmers produce anything and look for buyers, marketers struggle to get the right varieties and industry is starved of the needed raw materials.
It is to reverse this trend, that in 2009, the Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) introduced a unique forum – known as the Value Chain Practitioners Forum – for actors in the agric sector to meet and discuss ways of operating a well-linked and effective commodity value chains system in Ghana.
The second edition of this forum took place in Tamale at the GILBT confab hall over the weekend and was attended by a wide array of practitioners, including district directors of agric, consultants, farmers, representatives of non-governmental organisations, credit institutions and input dealers.
It was held on the theme: “Professionalizing value-chain practice in Ghana” and the participants discussed ways of putting in place an institutional arrangement, such as an association, to facilitate the smooth operation of the value-chains in Ghana.
Speakers at the forum argued that such an arrangement would improve collaboration among the actors in the chain, ensure that each actor complements the efforts of the other and enable the replication of best practices.
Other speakers raised issues with the funding of the association, its operation and membership arrangement.
To streamline all these issues, the participants constituted a 19-member core working group with the mandate of identifying the modalities of establishing such a body.
“This working group would meet from time to time and access the progress of institutionalising the value-chains system in the country,” the NRGP’s value chains specialists, Mr Pascal Dere told the press.
He said for now, the group would be hosted by the NRGP whiles efforts are made to establish a more sustainable and independent institutional arrangement.
The National Co-ordinator of the NRGP, Mr Roy Ayariga told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the forum was necessary because it sought to bring together all the actors onto a common platform to share ideas on the concept of commodity value-chains and to strategise on the way forward.
He noted that agric commodity value chains, though relatively new in Ghana, was the best approach to promoting agri-business and increasing rural incomes.
“Hither to, we were focusing on only production, whiles relegating value addition and marketing, but production becomes a waste if there is no available market and fair prices for the goods,” he mentioned.
“With the commodity value chains, all actors in the value chains act in unison and with certainty. Whiles input dealers and financial institutions support the farmer to produce the crop variety and quality that is in demand, the marketers and buyers remain assured of getting their desired produce,” he added.
Mr Ayariga stated that promoting commodity value chains in Ghana would certainly be the way to improve the incomes of smallholder farmers because it would move them beyond subsistence and guarantee them of a ready market and fair prices for their produce.
He said the NRGP was championing the adoption of the commodity value chains in Ghana because it believes strongly in partnership as being the key way to enhancing agric in the country.
Aside the formation of the association, the participants also brainstormed on innovative ways of value chain financing and marketing of agricultural produce and manufactured products.
“We have introduced a system, where we design an electronic data-base of various participants in the value-chain and the linkage activities among the various players is anchored through mobile telephony,” the Country Representative of the International Centre for Soil Fertility (IFDC), Dr Kofi Debrah stated in an interview.
“Many of our partners, including the farmers, have cell phones and therefore can transform these phones into business tools, rather than for social communication,” he further stated.
Mr Debrah mentioned the ‘mFarms’ platform, which he described as an information exchange tool, a decision support tool and a planning, production and marketing tool.
With the enthusiasm with which the NRGP is engineering the process, it is hoped that an effective commodity value chains system would soon be borne out of these deliberations.
More than 50 per cent of the country’s labour force was also estimated to be in the agricultural sector, as indicated by the 2000 Population and Housing Census.
In spite of this, many farmers in Ghana remain poor and, generally, agriculture appears to be unattractive to many people.
One of the reasons identified as contributing to this poverty among farmers is the absence of a functioning value chain system, which guarantees them of a ready market for their produce.
In their publication – “A Handbook for Value Chain Research” (2000) – Raphael Kaplinsky and Mike Morris, describe value chains as “the full range of activities which are required to bring a product or service from conception, through the different phases of production to delivery to the final consumer and final disposal after use.”
Thus, from the input dealer to the farmer, the middleman (if any), the marketer, the buyer and the consumer, there must be some form of understanding between the actors and networking that facilitates the entire process.
At every stage, premium is placed on value-addition and market demand for the product. The absence of these linkages has therefore been identified as the bane of Ghana’s agriculture. Farmers produce anything and look for buyers, marketers struggle to get the right varieties and industry is starved of the needed raw materials.
It is to reverse this trend, that in 2009, the Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) introduced a unique forum – known as the Value Chain Practitioners Forum – for actors in the agric sector to meet and discuss ways of operating a well-linked and effective commodity value chains system in Ghana.
The second edition of this forum took place in Tamale at the GILBT confab hall over the weekend and was attended by a wide array of practitioners, including district directors of agric, consultants, farmers, representatives of non-governmental organisations, credit institutions and input dealers.
It was held on the theme: “Professionalizing value-chain practice in Ghana” and the participants discussed ways of putting in place an institutional arrangement, such as an association, to facilitate the smooth operation of the value-chains in Ghana.
Speakers at the forum argued that such an arrangement would improve collaboration among the actors in the chain, ensure that each actor complements the efforts of the other and enable the replication of best practices.
Other speakers raised issues with the funding of the association, its operation and membership arrangement.
To streamline all these issues, the participants constituted a 19-member core working group with the mandate of identifying the modalities of establishing such a body.
“This working group would meet from time to time and access the progress of institutionalising the value-chains system in the country,” the NRGP’s value chains specialists, Mr Pascal Dere told the press.
He said for now, the group would be hosted by the NRGP whiles efforts are made to establish a more sustainable and independent institutional arrangement.
The National Co-ordinator of the NRGP, Mr Roy Ayariga told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the forum was necessary because it sought to bring together all the actors onto a common platform to share ideas on the concept of commodity value-chains and to strategise on the way forward.
He noted that agric commodity value chains, though relatively new in Ghana, was the best approach to promoting agri-business and increasing rural incomes.
“Hither to, we were focusing on only production, whiles relegating value addition and marketing, but production becomes a waste if there is no available market and fair prices for the goods,” he mentioned.
“With the commodity value chains, all actors in the value chains act in unison and with certainty. Whiles input dealers and financial institutions support the farmer to produce the crop variety and quality that is in demand, the marketers and buyers remain assured of getting their desired produce,” he added.
Mr Ayariga stated that promoting commodity value chains in Ghana would certainly be the way to improve the incomes of smallholder farmers because it would move them beyond subsistence and guarantee them of a ready market and fair prices for their produce.
He said the NRGP was championing the adoption of the commodity value chains in Ghana because it believes strongly in partnership as being the key way to enhancing agric in the country.
Aside the formation of the association, the participants also brainstormed on innovative ways of value chain financing and marketing of agricultural produce and manufactured products.
“We have introduced a system, where we design an electronic data-base of various participants in the value-chain and the linkage activities among the various players is anchored through mobile telephony,” the Country Representative of the International Centre for Soil Fertility (IFDC), Dr Kofi Debrah stated in an interview.
“Many of our partners, including the farmers, have cell phones and therefore can transform these phones into business tools, rather than for social communication,” he further stated.
Mr Debrah mentioned the ‘mFarms’ platform, which he described as an information exchange tool, a decision support tool and a planning, production and marketing tool.
With the enthusiasm with which the NRGP is engineering the process, it is hoped that an effective commodity value chains system would soon be borne out of these deliberations.
CCFC MARKS 15 YEARS OF SERVICE IN GHANA (PAGE 18, FEB 4, 2011)
WHILES the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), an international child-centred organisation, is marking its 50th anniversary globally, its branch in Ghana is celebrating 15 years of service to deprived children and communities in Ghana.
The CCFC commenced operations in the country in 1996 with the desire to address the phenomenon of head pottering (Kayayei), at a time when it was gaining national attention.
Little by little, the organisation expanded its operations and is now functional in 13 districts in the Northern Region, including Tamale, the regional capital.
In all these places, the CCFC has worked to improve the wellbeing of children, families and communities in the area of health, education, nutrition, water and sanitation, micro-enterprise development and institutional capacity.
At a durbar in Tamale to climax the anniversary celebrations, the Country Director of the CCFC, Madam Sanatu Nantogma mentioned some of the achievements chalked by her organisation over the past years.
“In education, we have constructed more than 30 classroom blocks with offices and stores, provided dual desks and teachers to 32 schools and organised literacy classes in 65 communities,” she stated.
Madam Sanatu noted that what was more pleasing to the CCFC was the establishment of ten early childhood development centres in various communities to support nursery education.
“In all, about 20,000 children have benefited from the support provided in education alone,” she added.
For health and nutrition, the country director mentioned that over the last five year, the CCFC had provided drugs for Malaria and worm control to the Ghana Health Service for administration to school children.
The CCFC, she noted, have also played a key role in the construction of clinics in some deprived communities and has also helped improve the nutrition of children by instituting a school feeding programme in some areas.
The provision of rainwater harvesting tanks and hand dug wells readily comes to mention as the CCFC’s contribution towards improving rural inhabitants’ access to potable water.
According to Madam Sanatu, “the CCFC has provided more than 30 hand dug wells, over 100 rainwater harvesting tanks and a dam complete with filtration to schools.”
She also mentioned the construction of household latrines for numerous homes and schools in deprived communities.
Madam Sanatu admits however that all these support, together with many others, could not have been possible without the support of funding agencies and partner organisations.
“From 2003 to date, a total of about 15.5 million Canadian dollars has been spent on our communities, thanks to our sponsors, grants and special project donors,” she stated.
She however expressed the hope that one day, well-to-do Ghanaians and institutions would lead the way in providing hope to children and families that are deprived.
“Many children have ambitions and will like to achieve them. They wanted to be doctors, nurses, teachers, pilots and great footballers. How can they achieve these dreams if we do not help them today,” she asked, rhetorically.
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba commended the CCFC for being a trusted partner in development over the years.
He noted that the initiatives of the CCFC were in tandem with the policies and programmes of the government, adding that “our government is a social democratic one and therefore it places premium on measures that seek to lift the people from poverty.”
The minister mentioned the Free Compulsory and Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), the Capitation Grant and the provision of free uniforms and textbooks to children as some of the measures being championed by the government to improve education in the country.
The CCFC commenced operations in the country in 1996 with the desire to address the phenomenon of head pottering (Kayayei), at a time when it was gaining national attention.
Little by little, the organisation expanded its operations and is now functional in 13 districts in the Northern Region, including Tamale, the regional capital.
In all these places, the CCFC has worked to improve the wellbeing of children, families and communities in the area of health, education, nutrition, water and sanitation, micro-enterprise development and institutional capacity.
At a durbar in Tamale to climax the anniversary celebrations, the Country Director of the CCFC, Madam Sanatu Nantogma mentioned some of the achievements chalked by her organisation over the past years.
“In education, we have constructed more than 30 classroom blocks with offices and stores, provided dual desks and teachers to 32 schools and organised literacy classes in 65 communities,” she stated.
Madam Sanatu noted that what was more pleasing to the CCFC was the establishment of ten early childhood development centres in various communities to support nursery education.
“In all, about 20,000 children have benefited from the support provided in education alone,” she added.
For health and nutrition, the country director mentioned that over the last five year, the CCFC had provided drugs for Malaria and worm control to the Ghana Health Service for administration to school children.
The CCFC, she noted, have also played a key role in the construction of clinics in some deprived communities and has also helped improve the nutrition of children by instituting a school feeding programme in some areas.
The provision of rainwater harvesting tanks and hand dug wells readily comes to mention as the CCFC’s contribution towards improving rural inhabitants’ access to potable water.
According to Madam Sanatu, “the CCFC has provided more than 30 hand dug wells, over 100 rainwater harvesting tanks and a dam complete with filtration to schools.”
She also mentioned the construction of household latrines for numerous homes and schools in deprived communities.
Madam Sanatu admits however that all these support, together with many others, could not have been possible without the support of funding agencies and partner organisations.
“From 2003 to date, a total of about 15.5 million Canadian dollars has been spent on our communities, thanks to our sponsors, grants and special project donors,” she stated.
She however expressed the hope that one day, well-to-do Ghanaians and institutions would lead the way in providing hope to children and families that are deprived.
“Many children have ambitions and will like to achieve them. They wanted to be doctors, nurses, teachers, pilots and great footballers. How can they achieve these dreams if we do not help them today,” she asked, rhetorically.
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba commended the CCFC for being a trusted partner in development over the years.
He noted that the initiatives of the CCFC were in tandem with the policies and programmes of the government, adding that “our government is a social democratic one and therefore it places premium on measures that seek to lift the people from poverty.”
The minister mentioned the Free Compulsory and Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), the Capitation Grant and the provision of free uniforms and textbooks to children as some of the measures being championed by the government to improve education in the country.
TUTOR DONATES MATHS BOOKS TO TAMALE LIBRARY (PAGE 22, FEB 1, 2011)
A MATHEMATICS tutor and author, Mr Elvis Alhassan has urged students who patronise libraries not to limit their reading materials to only story books, but to expand their horizon to cover other areas, including Mathematics.
According to him, libraries have a stock of books on various subjects and each of the subjects was of relevance to both academic and practical life.
“Maths in particular is a subject that is very critical to one’s academic success. At various levels, Maths tests are conducted and therefore students have no excuse to leave out Maths when using the library,” he stated.
Mr Alhassan made these remarks when he presented some copies of his new Mathematics book – El Ak Series Core Mathematics for Senior High Schools (SHSs) in West Africa – to the Northern Regional Library.
This presentation, he explained, was to increase the stock of Mathematics books at the library and equally introduce the book to students and other patrons of the library.
Mr Alhassan, who is currently a senior research assistant and a Masters student at the Department of Applied and Business Mathematics at the University for Development Studies (UDS), debunked the assertion that Mathematics was a tough subject.
“Anything could be difficult if it is not well-taught,” he stated, adding that “if Mathematics is taught in a more interesting, participatory and practical manner, students would easily appreciate the subject.”
The author described his book as one which is “self explanatory” and would enable students to follow it independently without supervision. “Each topic treated follows the trend of the new WASSCE syllabus taught in the Senior High Schools and it contains solved objectives and theory past questions,” he added.
The Northern Regional Librarian, Mr Aaron Kuwornu commended the author for endeavouring to present copies of his book to the library.
He said it was important that authors present copies of their publications to the library because “it is at the library that many students and readers discover these books.”
He also noted that a proper library must have stock of every book, irrespective of the subject, so as to serve as an effective reference point.
According to him, libraries have a stock of books on various subjects and each of the subjects was of relevance to both academic and practical life.
“Maths in particular is a subject that is very critical to one’s academic success. At various levels, Maths tests are conducted and therefore students have no excuse to leave out Maths when using the library,” he stated.
Mr Alhassan made these remarks when he presented some copies of his new Mathematics book – El Ak Series Core Mathematics for Senior High Schools (SHSs) in West Africa – to the Northern Regional Library.
This presentation, he explained, was to increase the stock of Mathematics books at the library and equally introduce the book to students and other patrons of the library.
Mr Alhassan, who is currently a senior research assistant and a Masters student at the Department of Applied and Business Mathematics at the University for Development Studies (UDS), debunked the assertion that Mathematics was a tough subject.
“Anything could be difficult if it is not well-taught,” he stated, adding that “if Mathematics is taught in a more interesting, participatory and practical manner, students would easily appreciate the subject.”
The author described his book as one which is “self explanatory” and would enable students to follow it independently without supervision. “Each topic treated follows the trend of the new WASSCE syllabus taught in the Senior High Schools and it contains solved objectives and theory past questions,” he added.
The Northern Regional Librarian, Mr Aaron Kuwornu commended the author for endeavouring to present copies of his book to the library.
He said it was important that authors present copies of their publications to the library because “it is at the library that many students and readers discover these books.”
He also noted that a proper library must have stock of every book, irrespective of the subject, so as to serve as an effective reference point.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)