ANGLOGOLD Ashanti (Iduapriem Mine) has committed GH¢94,177 this year to support 300 farmers in its host communities in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality in the Western Region.
The money is to be used for the production of maize, vegetables and the development of oil palm plantations towards the improvement of food security in the communities.
The support is being provided under the mining company’s sustainable alternative livelihood programme, known as “Hand-in-hand’ project.
It includes the provision of oil palm seedlings, seeds, fertiliser, weedicides and pesticides, machetes, Wellington boots, knapsack spraying machines and technical assistance for the beneficiaries.
The company piloted the maize project last year through a collaboration with the Municipal Food and Agriculture Directorate for 90 farmers.
Considering the success of the project, 150 more farmers have been supported to cultivate 300 acres of maize this year.
The farms are expected to yield about 150 metric tonnes of maize valued at GH¢90,000 (US$ 62,937) into the local economy. The project is to improve on food security, that is, food availability, accessibility and utilisation.
The company has also received 13,500 improved oil palm seedlings from the Oil Palm Research Institute at a cost of GH¢33,750 (US$ 23,600) for distribution to the farmers. In addition, the farmers would be given fertiliser, machetes and Wellington boots.
Since the programme started in 2005, the Iduapriem Mine has committed approximately US$2.5 million in its socio-economic development programme in the areas of education, health, water and sanitation, infrastructural development and alternative livelihood programme to improve the living conditions of people in the host communities.
The company has in addition presented start-up kits to the first batch of hairdresser trainees sponsored by the company and have completed their apprenticeship.
Speaking at a ceremony for the presentation of the farm inputs to the beneficiary farmers at Adieyie, the Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti (Iduapriem Mine), Mr Billy Mawasha, said the programme had proved to be a source of employment and livelihood in the communities.
“We are very happy with the positive results and are also glad that the community is partnering with us to achieve these results,” he said.
Mr Mawasha said the Adieyie and Teberebie basic schools in the company’s operational area had also received assistance to cultivate three acres of maize to boost the study of agriculture in schools.
He said AngloGold Ashanti was equally committed to deepening the human resource development in the area.
According to him, the mine is currently sponsoring 63 students in various levels of study and apprenticeship at a total cost of GH¢150,000 per year under the company’s scholarship scheme.
Mr Mawasha said the company valued education that was why it had made a priority in its corporate social responsibility.
The managing director said the mine had started the construction of an additional three-classroom block at Wangarakrom/Badukrom for the upper primary level, adding, “We also hope to build junior high school (JHS) structures for Abompuniso next year to help decongest the Adieyie JHS.”
“We will want to encourage the beneficiaries to place value on the inputs they are receiving today to maximise the yield on their farms and have a successful farming season,” he stressed.
The Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mrs Christina Kobbinah, in an address read on her behalf, said it was important to appreciate the structural underpinnings of relationships between mining companies and host communities.
She said that was imperative, since any sigh of disrespect and indifference shown to the host communities was likely to breed animosity, rancour and strife.
Mrs Kobbinah said most often than not, mining companies operating in the country had been accused of environmental degradation and neglect of the people in the communities where they operated.
The assembly member for Adieyie, Mr Ernest Amoateng, advised the farmers to use the inputs to cultivate their farms to increase food production in the area.
He also advised members of the various communities to help amicably settle all differences that might arise between them and the mining company.
The Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Director of Food and Agriculture, Mr Daniel Essel, appealed to the company to support and encourage rice production in the municipality, since the area was endowed with a rainfall pattern and valleys suitable for rice production.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
DRAW PLANS ON UTILISATION OF OIL REVENUE — AIDOO (PAGE 43, JULY 19, 2010)
THE Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, has called for holistic approach and a comprehensive plan towards the utilisation of revenue to be accrued from the oil find for the maximum benefit of the region and the country at large.
He was not happy that some metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, as well as traditional rulers in the region, were developing individual proposals which would enable them to benefit from the oil find.
“Every district and individual people are developing their own proposal towards the utilisation of the oil revenue,” he observed.
Mr Aidoo was speaking at the senior citizens day to mark this year’s Republic Day celebration in Sekondi.
“We have struck. Think of how to use the oil revenue for the development of the region and the country as a whole,” he said.
The regional minister called on the people irrespective of their political leaning, as well as the media, to focus on how to use the oil revenue for the socio-economic transformation of the country.
He stressed that individuals’ selfish interests and divisive tendencies would not help in maximising the oil revenue for the development of the country.
“All should unite to focus on how to use the oil revenue,” he said, adding that the Regional Co-ordinating Council would organise a workshop to deliberate on how best the region would derive maximum benefit from the oil revenue.
He was not happy that some metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, as well as traditional rulers in the region, were developing individual proposals which would enable them to benefit from the oil find.
“Every district and individual people are developing their own proposal towards the utilisation of the oil revenue,” he observed.
Mr Aidoo was speaking at the senior citizens day to mark this year’s Republic Day celebration in Sekondi.
“We have struck. Think of how to use the oil revenue for the development of the region and the country as a whole,” he said.
The regional minister called on the people irrespective of their political leaning, as well as the media, to focus on how to use the oil revenue for the socio-economic transformation of the country.
He stressed that individuals’ selfish interests and divisive tendencies would not help in maximising the oil revenue for the development of the country.
“All should unite to focus on how to use the oil revenue,” he said, adding that the Regional Co-ordinating Council would organise a workshop to deliberate on how best the region would derive maximum benefit from the oil revenue.
TARKWA-NSUAEM ASSEMBLY IMPROVES REVENUE GENERATION (PAGE 43, JULY 17, 2010)
WITH the inception of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), many metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies are now virtually depending on the fund for the execution of numerous development projects.
The institution of the common fund has made some assemblies relax in their internal income generation programmes or strategies.
The common fund was instituted to supplement the funding of development projects being implemented by the assemblies. They must, therefore, not be seen as the main source of funding of the development activities in the metropolis, municipalities and the districts.
This has created a situation where the delay in the release of the common fund makes the implementation of these projects very difficult.
Nowadays, most of the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies are not able to generate even half of their estimated annual revenue internally, as a result of their reliance on the common fund.
It is against this background that the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly in the Western Region has adopted measures to improve its internally generated revenue.
The assembly has undertaken major rehabilitation of the Tarkwa central market at a cost of GH¢260,000 to improve on the facilities in the market and to generate more revenue from the market.
The assembly has also institutionalised Mondays and Fridays as market days to make the market vibrant by encouraging all traders from surrounding satellite markets to bring their commodities and foodstuffs to the market to sell.
All traders operating from the lorry parks and streets have also been relocated to the Tarkwa central market through a decongestive exercise.
Speaking on the institutionalisation of the market days at the market, the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mrs Christina Kobbinah, said the market used to be very vibrant in the 1960s and 1970s.
She said unfortunately, over the years, not only did business in the market fall, but also the structures fell into a state of disrepair.
“It was no more attractive to the market women so many of them therefore chose to ply their trade at the lorry parks,” he explained.
Mrs Kobbinah said it was expected that the traders would participate in market days and make prices of their commodities relatively cheaper to attract more customers.
She stated that a market flourished when traders exhibited high sense of good customer relationship, good interpersonal communication and negotiation skills.
The MCE, therefore, appealed to the market women to adopt those common marketing principles so as to attract other traders to transact business in the market.
The Akyeamehene of Apinto Divisional Area, Nana Kobina Obbo, stated that the declaration of Mondays and Fridays as market days would boost business and trade and also improve the income of families, as well as revenue for the municipal assembly.
He appealed for peace to prevail in the market and urged the market queens to desist from imposing unnecessary high tolls on goods that would be brought from the rural areas to the market.
That practice, Nana Obbo said, would scare the rural people from patronising the market days, making business at the market to suffer.
The institution of the common fund has made some assemblies relax in their internal income generation programmes or strategies.
The common fund was instituted to supplement the funding of development projects being implemented by the assemblies. They must, therefore, not be seen as the main source of funding of the development activities in the metropolis, municipalities and the districts.
This has created a situation where the delay in the release of the common fund makes the implementation of these projects very difficult.
Nowadays, most of the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies are not able to generate even half of their estimated annual revenue internally, as a result of their reliance on the common fund.
It is against this background that the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly in the Western Region has adopted measures to improve its internally generated revenue.
The assembly has undertaken major rehabilitation of the Tarkwa central market at a cost of GH¢260,000 to improve on the facilities in the market and to generate more revenue from the market.
The assembly has also institutionalised Mondays and Fridays as market days to make the market vibrant by encouraging all traders from surrounding satellite markets to bring their commodities and foodstuffs to the market to sell.
All traders operating from the lorry parks and streets have also been relocated to the Tarkwa central market through a decongestive exercise.
Speaking on the institutionalisation of the market days at the market, the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mrs Christina Kobbinah, said the market used to be very vibrant in the 1960s and 1970s.
She said unfortunately, over the years, not only did business in the market fall, but also the structures fell into a state of disrepair.
“It was no more attractive to the market women so many of them therefore chose to ply their trade at the lorry parks,” he explained.
Mrs Kobbinah said it was expected that the traders would participate in market days and make prices of their commodities relatively cheaper to attract more customers.
She stated that a market flourished when traders exhibited high sense of good customer relationship, good interpersonal communication and negotiation skills.
The MCE, therefore, appealed to the market women to adopt those common marketing principles so as to attract other traders to transact business in the market.
The Akyeamehene of Apinto Divisional Area, Nana Kobina Obbo, stated that the declaration of Mondays and Fridays as market days would boost business and trade and also improve the income of families, as well as revenue for the municipal assembly.
He appealed for peace to prevail in the market and urged the market queens to desist from imposing unnecessary high tolls on goods that would be brought from the rural areas to the market.
That practice, Nana Obbo said, would scare the rural people from patronising the market days, making business at the market to suffer.
Friday, June 18, 2010
MODERN MARKET FOR ELUBO (PAGE 42, JUNE 17, 2010)
THE Jomoro District Assembly in the Western Region is constructing a modern market at Elubo to befit the status of the border town as a fast-growing international trading and commercial destination.
It is also the vision and strategy of the district assembly to improve the image of the town and its land management.
The new market comprises stores and stalls, a day care centre, cold stores, butchers’ shed, a canteen, administrative office, conference hall, waiting rooms, sanitary facilities, a lorry park, as well as a loading and off-loading bays.
The old market is being relocated to a more convenient place on a 22.7 acre land at Pillar Three on the Elubo-Enchi road.
Speaking at a sod-cutting ceremony to commence the project, the Jomoro District Chief Executive, Mr Nyianyi, said the assembly’s intervention was to provide basic and acceptable facilities in the new location to alleviate problems currently facing traders who were using unauthorised areas in the town.
He stated that Elubo had become a major border town since the 1980s when the construction of the Agona Nkwanta-Elubo portion of the Trans-African Highway was completed.
The highway, Mr Kablan said, improved the road access and made the town one of the fastest growing in the country and a gateway, providing the first and last impressions for visitors to and from Cote d’lvoire.
“Indeed, the new status of Elubo has led to what could be described as a population explosion, over-generating socio-economic and commercial activities,” he added.
Mr Kablan said some of those things had brought in their wake haphazard land use and development, following the business boom which was attracting local and international patronage from traders as far as Togo, Niger, Nigeria and Cote d’lvoire.
“This has resulted in a spillover of commercial activities to the security zone of the border town, causing human and vehicular traffic congestion with dire consequences for security and the country’s image”, he said.
The assembly member for Elubo, Mr Joseph Allah Arthur, commended the assembly for its foresight and appealed to the government to rehabilitate the road from Pillar Three to Jema since most of the farm produce came from that area.
The Omanhene of the Western Nzema Traditional Area and President of the Nzema Maanle Council, Awulae Annor Adjaye, called for sanity to prevail at the border of Elubo following the recent revelations of security lapses which resulted in the smuggling of cocoa in to a neighbouring country.
He also advocated a clampdown on commercial sex trade which was on the increase at Elubo.
It is also the vision and strategy of the district assembly to improve the image of the town and its land management.
The new market comprises stores and stalls, a day care centre, cold stores, butchers’ shed, a canteen, administrative office, conference hall, waiting rooms, sanitary facilities, a lorry park, as well as a loading and off-loading bays.
The old market is being relocated to a more convenient place on a 22.7 acre land at Pillar Three on the Elubo-Enchi road.
Speaking at a sod-cutting ceremony to commence the project, the Jomoro District Chief Executive, Mr Nyianyi, said the assembly’s intervention was to provide basic and acceptable facilities in the new location to alleviate problems currently facing traders who were using unauthorised areas in the town.
He stated that Elubo had become a major border town since the 1980s when the construction of the Agona Nkwanta-Elubo portion of the Trans-African Highway was completed.
The highway, Mr Kablan said, improved the road access and made the town one of the fastest growing in the country and a gateway, providing the first and last impressions for visitors to and from Cote d’lvoire.
“Indeed, the new status of Elubo has led to what could be described as a population explosion, over-generating socio-economic and commercial activities,” he added.
Mr Kablan said some of those things had brought in their wake haphazard land use and development, following the business boom which was attracting local and international patronage from traders as far as Togo, Niger, Nigeria and Cote d’lvoire.
“This has resulted in a spillover of commercial activities to the security zone of the border town, causing human and vehicular traffic congestion with dire consequences for security and the country’s image”, he said.
The assembly member for Elubo, Mr Joseph Allah Arthur, commended the assembly for its foresight and appealed to the government to rehabilitate the road from Pillar Three to Jema since most of the farm produce came from that area.
The Omanhene of the Western Nzema Traditional Area and President of the Nzema Maanle Council, Awulae Annor Adjaye, called for sanity to prevail at the border of Elubo following the recent revelations of security lapses which resulted in the smuggling of cocoa in to a neighbouring country.
He also advocated a clampdown on commercial sex trade which was on the increase at Elubo.
130 COMPLETE SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAMME (PAGE 42, JUNE 17, 2010)
ONE hundred and thirty eight refugees at the Krisan Refugees Settlement and selected members of the host communities in the Ellembelle District in the Western Region have completed a six-month skills training programme for Human Security Assistance to generate sustainable livelihoods for themselves, their families and communities.
The programme trained 207 beneficiaries at the Charlotte Dolphyne Training Centre at Krisan, out of which 154 sat for the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) examinations. The 138, representing 89.6 per cent of the candidates were successful.
They went through baking, beauty care, dressmaking, Information and Communication (ICT) computer hardware, block laying and masonry, carpentry and joinery, and welding and fabrication.
They also successfully participated in a five-day intensive training course in business skills and entrepreneurship.
The graduates were given start-up kits/materials each at a total cost of GH¢50,000 to start their own businesses in their areas of acquired competence.
The Japanese government funded the programme by providing a budget of US$ 1.7 million through the United Nations Human Security Trust Fund (UNHSTF) to support human security and two main refugee camps in Ghana, namely Buduburam and Krisan. At least, 20 per cent of the programme assistance is targeted to the host communities.
The UN executing agencies are the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), which is the lead agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) along with key government of Ghana ministries.
The agencies have so far trained a total of 1,322 refugees and host community members from Buduburam and Krisan far surpassing the 450 originally designed in the Joint Programme Document.
In an address read on behalf the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, at the graduation ceremony of the 138 graduands at Krisan, he said the ministry was working seriously on the creation of a new vocational training environment that would enable it to provide relevant industry-driven skills to reduce the present mismatch.
“In the new dispensation of skill delivery, ICT and other soft skills will be encouraged to make skill delivery flexible and attractive to make for high patronage and easy articulation,” he said.
Mr Mensah said in the new economic context, there was the high uncertainty on the types of jobs to become available in the labour market and their content in the medium and long term, while wage employment for life was a remnant of the past as people were being exposed to the risk of job loss as well as the opportunity of finding better employment in new jobs if they had the skills to do so.
“This has created the need for curriculum modernisation, which seeks to broaden the content of vocational training programmes for the youth by enlarging the type of vocational skills they develop and prepare for a large spectrum of occupations, giving importance to transversal skills that can be mobilised in different working places and sectors to respond to the requirements of the changing workplace,” he said.
Mr Mensah called for the strengthening of links between the training provision and the world of work as well as the strong involvement of industry in vocational training, which was very crucial.
He said the closer links between training providers and industry were necessary in the definition of training programmes at the local level to ensure higher employability of graduates.
The Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Keiichi Katakami, said he was happy to see that the UN Human Security Fund was being utilised in a wonderful way in the activities of the training programme.
He said the Japanese government considered human security central to poverty reduction and peace building.
“That is precisely why Japan sponsors the UN Human Security Fund, which is to be used for activities like this vocational training,” he said.
Mr Katakami stressed that the activity that gave people tools to live with, knowledge to survive, and a sense of empowerment was crucial to the people like the graduating class, adding that the fund would continue to be utilised by the UN agencies.
In an address read on his behalf, the Minister of the Interior, Mr Martin Amidu, said the relative peace and tranquility in the country had attracted people from all over the world.
He commended the Japanese government for the support and appealed to Japan to expand the programme.
The UNIDO Representative to Ghana and Togo, Dr Francis L. Bartels said through the generosity of the government and people of Japan, UNIDO, the lead agency, along with UNHCR and FAO had been able to implement the joint United Nations programme for Human Security Assistance to refugees at Buduburam and Krisan with 20 per cent of funding directed to activities in the host communities.
He said the two-year programme initiated in September, 2007, was granted an extension by the United Nations Office for Co-ordinating Humanitarian Affairs in order to secure the benefits from the programme to the advantage of refugees and host communities.
The UNHCR Representative in Ghana, Ms Sharon Cooper, stated that with resilience, the beneficiaries could rebuild their lives.
She said the training they had gone through would make them self-sufficient to be able to look into the future with hope.
The Deputy Minister of Energy and Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Buah, said the training programme needed the support of everybody.
He said the Charlotte Dolphyne Training Centre was of great importance to the district and the communities since it had been located at a strategic place.
The programme trained 207 beneficiaries at the Charlotte Dolphyne Training Centre at Krisan, out of which 154 sat for the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) examinations. The 138, representing 89.6 per cent of the candidates were successful.
They went through baking, beauty care, dressmaking, Information and Communication (ICT) computer hardware, block laying and masonry, carpentry and joinery, and welding and fabrication.
They also successfully participated in a five-day intensive training course in business skills and entrepreneurship.
The graduates were given start-up kits/materials each at a total cost of GH¢50,000 to start their own businesses in their areas of acquired competence.
The Japanese government funded the programme by providing a budget of US$ 1.7 million through the United Nations Human Security Trust Fund (UNHSTF) to support human security and two main refugee camps in Ghana, namely Buduburam and Krisan. At least, 20 per cent of the programme assistance is targeted to the host communities.
The UN executing agencies are the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), which is the lead agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) along with key government of Ghana ministries.
The agencies have so far trained a total of 1,322 refugees and host community members from Buduburam and Krisan far surpassing the 450 originally designed in the Joint Programme Document.
In an address read on behalf the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, at the graduation ceremony of the 138 graduands at Krisan, he said the ministry was working seriously on the creation of a new vocational training environment that would enable it to provide relevant industry-driven skills to reduce the present mismatch.
“In the new dispensation of skill delivery, ICT and other soft skills will be encouraged to make skill delivery flexible and attractive to make for high patronage and easy articulation,” he said.
Mr Mensah said in the new economic context, there was the high uncertainty on the types of jobs to become available in the labour market and their content in the medium and long term, while wage employment for life was a remnant of the past as people were being exposed to the risk of job loss as well as the opportunity of finding better employment in new jobs if they had the skills to do so.
“This has created the need for curriculum modernisation, which seeks to broaden the content of vocational training programmes for the youth by enlarging the type of vocational skills they develop and prepare for a large spectrum of occupations, giving importance to transversal skills that can be mobilised in different working places and sectors to respond to the requirements of the changing workplace,” he said.
Mr Mensah called for the strengthening of links between the training provision and the world of work as well as the strong involvement of industry in vocational training, which was very crucial.
He said the closer links between training providers and industry were necessary in the definition of training programmes at the local level to ensure higher employability of graduates.
The Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Keiichi Katakami, said he was happy to see that the UN Human Security Fund was being utilised in a wonderful way in the activities of the training programme.
He said the Japanese government considered human security central to poverty reduction and peace building.
“That is precisely why Japan sponsors the UN Human Security Fund, which is to be used for activities like this vocational training,” he said.
Mr Katakami stressed that the activity that gave people tools to live with, knowledge to survive, and a sense of empowerment was crucial to the people like the graduating class, adding that the fund would continue to be utilised by the UN agencies.
In an address read on his behalf, the Minister of the Interior, Mr Martin Amidu, said the relative peace and tranquility in the country had attracted people from all over the world.
He commended the Japanese government for the support and appealed to Japan to expand the programme.
The UNIDO Representative to Ghana and Togo, Dr Francis L. Bartels said through the generosity of the government and people of Japan, UNIDO, the lead agency, along with UNHCR and FAO had been able to implement the joint United Nations programme for Human Security Assistance to refugees at Buduburam and Krisan with 20 per cent of funding directed to activities in the host communities.
He said the two-year programme initiated in September, 2007, was granted an extension by the United Nations Office for Co-ordinating Humanitarian Affairs in order to secure the benefits from the programme to the advantage of refugees and host communities.
The UNHCR Representative in Ghana, Ms Sharon Cooper, stated that with resilience, the beneficiaries could rebuild their lives.
She said the training they had gone through would make them self-sufficient to be able to look into the future with hope.
The Deputy Minister of Energy and Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Buah, said the training programme needed the support of everybody.
He said the Charlotte Dolphyne Training Centre was of great importance to the district and the communities since it had been located at a strategic place.
Monday, June 14, 2010
2,000 FARMERS TRAINED UNDER STCP (PAGE 61, JUNE 16, 2010)
THE Sustainable Tree Crops Programme (STCP) of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has trained about 2,000 cocoa farmers in best farm practices under the second phase of the Cocoa Sector Support Programme (CSSP11) project.
This is to ensure improved sustainability of cocoa production in the country.
The project, funded by the European Union (EU), is to improve the livelihood of smallholder cocoa farmers in the country.
Under the project, over 509,000 cocoa seedlings have been distributed among farmers who have planted about 463.5 hectares. About 28,386 timber seedlings have also been made available to the farmers.
The farmers were drawn from eight districts in the Western and Ashanti regions. The districts are Bia, Juaboso, Sefwi Wiawso and Wassa Amenfi East in the Western Region, and Ahafo Ano North, Amansie Central, Bekwai Municipality and Adansi South in the Ashanti Region.
The farmers were trained in integrated crop and pest management (ICPM) and planting, replanting and diversification (PRD) from March 2009 to December 2009.
The farmers were taken through basic agribusiness skill training from February to May 2010, and have been able to establish 60 farmer field schools.
Also, through farmer-to-farmer knowledge diffusion, they have been able to pass on their skills and knowledge to additional 2,552 farmers in their communities.
Another 38 Video Viewing Clubs have also bee established and a total of 998 farmers were trained in ICPM and PRD through this methodology.
Topics treated included pruning of cocoa trees, integration of timber trees in cocoa systems, blackpod disease management, rational pesticide use, soil fertility management and nursery establishment and management, preparing a cocoa farm business plan, farm budgeting, credit management, profit analysis and investment opportunities.
Out of the total number of farmers trained, 2,033 were further trained in occupational safety and health, including the handling of sharp tools, farm emergencies, posture during farming, carrying of loads, use of personal protective clothing and equipment.
A grand graduation ceremony had been held for the farmers at Sefwi Wiawso in the Western Region during which they were awarded certificates.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Head of Co-operation of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Mr Kurt Cornelis, said funding of the CSSP11 had given the European Union the opportunity to support one of the most important strategic sub-sectors of Ghana’s economy.
In that programme, he said the EU provided total funding of EUR 11 million which was channelled through the COCOBOD to support the eradication of the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus.
Mr Cornelis added that a substantial part of the funding went into the enhancement of the capacity of the COCOBOD to research, breed and produce improved disease resistant hybrid planting materials.
Additionally, he said the programme supported the demarcation of swollen shoot endemic areas and provided compensation payments to affected farmers.
He said further that through the programme, the EU was able to contribute to the record high cocoa production in Ghana over the past decade and thus, helped to maintain Ghana’s global competitiveness.
“In line with EU policies, there has been a re-focus of our development support towards improvement of the technical know-how of farmers through extension delivery, intensification and diversification of cocoa systems and improved self organising capacities of farmers at the community level, ” he explained adding that “All these elements should combine to assist in the commercialisation of cocoa farming in Ghana”.
He said the EU had committed a total funding of EUR 5million for CSSP11 for the period 2007-2011.
Out of this amount, he explained that the IITA was managing EUR 3.5 million, while the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) through the Seed Production Unit (SPU) with the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) managing EUR 1 million.
This intervention, he said, was complemented by the broader development programme of the EU in Ghana, which was seeking to support the decentralisation process and greater empowerment of civil society, with a view to enhancing grassroot delivery mechanisms and structures to reduce poverty.
Mr Cornelis explained that the EU consulted a wide range of stakeholders in preparing the CSSP11 and that through these consultations, it became aware of the success that the IITA had achieved under the STCP in West Africa.
“Therefore, in collaboration with the Government of Ghana, represented by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ghana Cocoa Board, IITA was selected as a key implementer of the Cocoa Sector Support Programme Two in Ghana, ” he said.
He said this was in line with the EU’s policy of involving non-public sector development partners in the implementation of programmes.
Mr Cornelis pointed out that the EU believed that a transition from traditional cocoa farming systems, with attendant high costs of production, to a more commercially oriented farming system could only be achieved in an environment of strong stakeholder collaboration and public-private partnerships.
The Deputy Executive Officer of the COCOBOD, Dr Yaw Adu Ampomah, noted that despite the contribution of cocoa to the Ghanaian economy and farm families as a whole, the sector was beset with countless challenges.
Some of these challenges, he said, were inadequate adoption of improved technologies, lack of farmer skills to adopt technologies, deforestation resulting from expansion of cocoa farms, poor self organisation of cocoa communities to access production support services, pest and disease-related problems and lack of basic business skills for farm enterprise management.
Dr Ampomah said COCOBOD was taking measures to ensure that the challenges were addressed.
He mentioned the mass cocoa spraying exercise which assisted farmers to spray their farms against mirids and blackpod diseases, and the Cocoa High-Tech programme, which assisted and facilitated farmers’ access to the use of fertilisers and agro-pesticides.
These efforts, he said, had had significant impact on production growth.
Dr Ampomah said funding from the EU, the STCP, CRIG and the SPU, had been actively working together to ensure that outputs of smallholder cocoa farmers were increased under different contractual arrangements.
He said this drive contributed towards COCOBOD’s target of exporting one million tons of cocoa in the medium-term, and concurrently increasing income of smallholder cocoa farmers.
He said the extension materials, tools and approaches developed by the STCP and IITA was being discussed for integration into the country’s newly emerging extension systems under a public-private partnership led by the COCOBOD.
The Country Manager of IITA/STCP, Mr Isaac Gyamfi, said his outfit had collaborated with the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana to find out how to train cocoa farmers in modern technology in cocoa production for the past seven years.
He said the outcome of this collaboration had enabled the IITA to expand the programme and approach the EU for assistance.
Mr Gyamfi emphasised that the STCP was not intended to take over the functions of the extension officers of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
The Sefwi Wiawso District Chief Executive, Mr S. W. Kofi Mensah, said the district was one of the largest cocoa growing areas in the Western Region.
He appealed to the country’s development partners to assist the communities in the district through the introduction of some interventions and other innovations to enable people in the area to improve their living conditions.
This is to ensure improved sustainability of cocoa production in the country.
The project, funded by the European Union (EU), is to improve the livelihood of smallholder cocoa farmers in the country.
Under the project, over 509,000 cocoa seedlings have been distributed among farmers who have planted about 463.5 hectares. About 28,386 timber seedlings have also been made available to the farmers.
The farmers were drawn from eight districts in the Western and Ashanti regions. The districts are Bia, Juaboso, Sefwi Wiawso and Wassa Amenfi East in the Western Region, and Ahafo Ano North, Amansie Central, Bekwai Municipality and Adansi South in the Ashanti Region.
The farmers were trained in integrated crop and pest management (ICPM) and planting, replanting and diversification (PRD) from March 2009 to December 2009.
The farmers were taken through basic agribusiness skill training from February to May 2010, and have been able to establish 60 farmer field schools.
Also, through farmer-to-farmer knowledge diffusion, they have been able to pass on their skills and knowledge to additional 2,552 farmers in their communities.
Another 38 Video Viewing Clubs have also bee established and a total of 998 farmers were trained in ICPM and PRD through this methodology.
Topics treated included pruning of cocoa trees, integration of timber trees in cocoa systems, blackpod disease management, rational pesticide use, soil fertility management and nursery establishment and management, preparing a cocoa farm business plan, farm budgeting, credit management, profit analysis and investment opportunities.
Out of the total number of farmers trained, 2,033 were further trained in occupational safety and health, including the handling of sharp tools, farm emergencies, posture during farming, carrying of loads, use of personal protective clothing and equipment.
A grand graduation ceremony had been held for the farmers at Sefwi Wiawso in the Western Region during which they were awarded certificates.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Head of Co-operation of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Mr Kurt Cornelis, said funding of the CSSP11 had given the European Union the opportunity to support one of the most important strategic sub-sectors of Ghana’s economy.
In that programme, he said the EU provided total funding of EUR 11 million which was channelled through the COCOBOD to support the eradication of the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus.
Mr Cornelis added that a substantial part of the funding went into the enhancement of the capacity of the COCOBOD to research, breed and produce improved disease resistant hybrid planting materials.
Additionally, he said the programme supported the demarcation of swollen shoot endemic areas and provided compensation payments to affected farmers.
He said further that through the programme, the EU was able to contribute to the record high cocoa production in Ghana over the past decade and thus, helped to maintain Ghana’s global competitiveness.
“In line with EU policies, there has been a re-focus of our development support towards improvement of the technical know-how of farmers through extension delivery, intensification and diversification of cocoa systems and improved self organising capacities of farmers at the community level, ” he explained adding that “All these elements should combine to assist in the commercialisation of cocoa farming in Ghana”.
He said the EU had committed a total funding of EUR 5million for CSSP11 for the period 2007-2011.
Out of this amount, he explained that the IITA was managing EUR 3.5 million, while the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) through the Seed Production Unit (SPU) with the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) managing EUR 1 million.
This intervention, he said, was complemented by the broader development programme of the EU in Ghana, which was seeking to support the decentralisation process and greater empowerment of civil society, with a view to enhancing grassroot delivery mechanisms and structures to reduce poverty.
Mr Cornelis explained that the EU consulted a wide range of stakeholders in preparing the CSSP11 and that through these consultations, it became aware of the success that the IITA had achieved under the STCP in West Africa.
“Therefore, in collaboration with the Government of Ghana, represented by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ghana Cocoa Board, IITA was selected as a key implementer of the Cocoa Sector Support Programme Two in Ghana, ” he said.
He said this was in line with the EU’s policy of involving non-public sector development partners in the implementation of programmes.
Mr Cornelis pointed out that the EU believed that a transition from traditional cocoa farming systems, with attendant high costs of production, to a more commercially oriented farming system could only be achieved in an environment of strong stakeholder collaboration and public-private partnerships.
The Deputy Executive Officer of the COCOBOD, Dr Yaw Adu Ampomah, noted that despite the contribution of cocoa to the Ghanaian economy and farm families as a whole, the sector was beset with countless challenges.
Some of these challenges, he said, were inadequate adoption of improved technologies, lack of farmer skills to adopt technologies, deforestation resulting from expansion of cocoa farms, poor self organisation of cocoa communities to access production support services, pest and disease-related problems and lack of basic business skills for farm enterprise management.
Dr Ampomah said COCOBOD was taking measures to ensure that the challenges were addressed.
He mentioned the mass cocoa spraying exercise which assisted farmers to spray their farms against mirids and blackpod diseases, and the Cocoa High-Tech programme, which assisted and facilitated farmers’ access to the use of fertilisers and agro-pesticides.
These efforts, he said, had had significant impact on production growth.
Dr Ampomah said funding from the EU, the STCP, CRIG and the SPU, had been actively working together to ensure that outputs of smallholder cocoa farmers were increased under different contractual arrangements.
He said this drive contributed towards COCOBOD’s target of exporting one million tons of cocoa in the medium-term, and concurrently increasing income of smallholder cocoa farmers.
He said the extension materials, tools and approaches developed by the STCP and IITA was being discussed for integration into the country’s newly emerging extension systems under a public-private partnership led by the COCOBOD.
The Country Manager of IITA/STCP, Mr Isaac Gyamfi, said his outfit had collaborated with the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana to find out how to train cocoa farmers in modern technology in cocoa production for the past seven years.
He said the outcome of this collaboration had enabled the IITA to expand the programme and approach the EU for assistance.
Mr Gyamfi emphasised that the STCP was not intended to take over the functions of the extension officers of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
The Sefwi Wiawso District Chief Executive, Mr S. W. Kofi Mensah, said the district was one of the largest cocoa growing areas in the Western Region.
He appealed to the country’s development partners to assist the communities in the district through the introduction of some interventions and other innovations to enable people in the area to improve their living conditions.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
MMDCES ATTEND WORKSHOP ON MANAGEMENT OF ASSEMBLIES (PAGE 13, JUNE 12, 2010)
METROPOLITAN, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) in the Western Region are attending a five-day workshop on the management of assemblies.
It is to ensure a common understanding of their management responsibilities, as well as enhance their skills towards effective organisational performance.
The workshop is also aimed at providing an opportunity for the chief executives to acquaint themselves with critical managerial competencies and skills to enable them to address on-the-job challenges, as well as create a platform for the discussion of the next steps for the effective management of the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).
It is being organised by the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) and sponsored by the French Embassy’s Support for Decentralisation and Local Governance Programme.
The programme, the first of its kind, is expected to be piloted in the Western Region and replicated in other regions, depending on how it will impact on the performance of the chief executives in the Western Region.
In June 2007, the French Embassy’s Support for Decentralisation and Local Governance Programme conducted a capacity building needs assessment in financial management for MMDAs in the Western Region, as well as the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC).
The results from the needs assessment served as inputs for the design and development of the training curriculum on financial management.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the workshop at the Busua Beach Resort in the Ahanta West District in the Western Region, the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yileh Chireh, said the country was at an important period in its national growth and that it was important that the assemblies, which were the vehicles through which development was delivered to the citizenry, were effective, efficient and responsive.
He said the Western Region was particularly significant, as it played host to the nation’s oil resources and must be poised to take advantage of the backward and forward linkages that would arise and change the economy of the region.
Among other consequences, he said, jobs would be created, food would be purchased and services demanded, saying that these should have positive implications for all districts in the region and beyond.
He said, however, that there would be implications for local level management of infrastructure, security, livelihoods, resource mobilisation and governance.
Therefore, it was entirely appropriate that chief executives of the region wanted to strengthen their competencies to manage their jurisdictions effectively, Mr Chireh added.
He, therefore, commended the RCC, the ILGS, the French Embassy and the chief executives who were involved in the process for providing the model.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, in an address read on his behalf by the Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr David Yaro, noted that for the MMDCEs to successfully discharge their duties and functions effectively and efficiently, there was the need for them to be imbued with leadership qualities of courage, drive, modesty and readiness to serve.
The Director of the ILGS, Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, said the choice of MMDCEs was about effective and efficient leadership and managerial ability.
The Project Manager of the French Embassy’s Support for Decentralisation and Local Governance Programme, Mr Jeremey Lees, explained that the programme was to help the MMDCEs to achieve the administrative part of their mandate.
He expressed the hope that the programme would meet the requirements of the various assemblies towards effective local government in the country.
It is to ensure a common understanding of their management responsibilities, as well as enhance their skills towards effective organisational performance.
The workshop is also aimed at providing an opportunity for the chief executives to acquaint themselves with critical managerial competencies and skills to enable them to address on-the-job challenges, as well as create a platform for the discussion of the next steps for the effective management of the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).
It is being organised by the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) and sponsored by the French Embassy’s Support for Decentralisation and Local Governance Programme.
The programme, the first of its kind, is expected to be piloted in the Western Region and replicated in other regions, depending on how it will impact on the performance of the chief executives in the Western Region.
In June 2007, the French Embassy’s Support for Decentralisation and Local Governance Programme conducted a capacity building needs assessment in financial management for MMDAs in the Western Region, as well as the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC).
The results from the needs assessment served as inputs for the design and development of the training curriculum on financial management.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the workshop at the Busua Beach Resort in the Ahanta West District in the Western Region, the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yileh Chireh, said the country was at an important period in its national growth and that it was important that the assemblies, which were the vehicles through which development was delivered to the citizenry, were effective, efficient and responsive.
He said the Western Region was particularly significant, as it played host to the nation’s oil resources and must be poised to take advantage of the backward and forward linkages that would arise and change the economy of the region.
Among other consequences, he said, jobs would be created, food would be purchased and services demanded, saying that these should have positive implications for all districts in the region and beyond.
He said, however, that there would be implications for local level management of infrastructure, security, livelihoods, resource mobilisation and governance.
Therefore, it was entirely appropriate that chief executives of the region wanted to strengthen their competencies to manage their jurisdictions effectively, Mr Chireh added.
He, therefore, commended the RCC, the ILGS, the French Embassy and the chief executives who were involved in the process for providing the model.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, in an address read on his behalf by the Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr David Yaro, noted that for the MMDCEs to successfully discharge their duties and functions effectively and efficiently, there was the need for them to be imbued with leadership qualities of courage, drive, modesty and readiness to serve.
The Director of the ILGS, Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, said the choice of MMDCEs was about effective and efficient leadership and managerial ability.
The Project Manager of the French Embassy’s Support for Decentralisation and Local Governance Programme, Mr Jeremey Lees, explained that the programme was to help the MMDCEs to achieve the administrative part of their mandate.
He expressed the hope that the programme would meet the requirements of the various assemblies towards effective local government in the country.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)