Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has vowed to support farmers in Ghana with tractors and credit to boost productivity and reduce food prices.
During a campaign rally in Wa East, Dr Bawumia acknowledged the vital role farming plays in ensuring food security and affordability.
Dr.Bawumia
He emphasised that farming is the key to bringing down food prices and pledged to provide farmers with the necessary resources to increase their yields.
Dr. Bawumia cited the examples of Brazil and China, where farmers produce 10 and 12 tons of maize per acre, respectively, compared to Ghana’s average yield of four tons per acre.
To address this disparity, Dr. Bawumia promised to introduce advanced farming practices from Brazil and China to Ghanaian farmers.
He also announced plans to establish “super aggregators” that would purchase produce directly from farmers, ensuring they receive fair prices and reducing post-harvest losses.
He also highlighted the importance of using lime fertilizers to improve soil fertility, noting that Ghana has an abundance of lime deposits.
“I want to help our farmers. Farming is the key to bringing food prices down and we are going to help the farmers increase their productivity. If you go to Brazil, an acre of land, maize can come to 10 tons, in China they can get 12 tons, but in Ghana, we get only four tons.
“I’m going to apply the practices that we are seeing that have worked in Brazil and in China to our farmers in the Wa East District, to increase productivity.”
“We are going to establish super aggregators who will come and buy the produce from the farmers so that the food does not go to waste and they can get good prices for their goods.
“We are going to help the farmers with tractors and with credit for them to harvest and we are going to move from the normal fertiliser to lime, lime makes our soil very fertile, and we have lime in Ghana and we are going to help our farmers use lime in Ghana.”
Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) and Mastercard Foundation have announced the winners of the 2024 AgriTech Challenge Pro highlighting their commitment to develop the next generation of young Ghanaian entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector, with job readiness skills, for fulfilling and dignified work opportunities. In attendance at the event were Mr. Benjmain Gyan-Kesse, the KIC Executive Director, Mr. Joe Mensah, Board Chair for KIC, representatives of the Mastercard Foundation as well as stakeholders from the youth development and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The winners were announced after a successful pitch competition held in Accra, where 35 teams presented their business pitch decks to a panel of judges. At the end of the competition 24 teams received seed funding support to scale up and grow their business innovations.
The participating universities for this year’s Challenge include University of Ghana (UG), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Cape Coast (UCC), Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU), Takoradi Technical University (TTU), Ho Technical University (HTU), Koforidua Technical University (KTU), University of Development Studies (UDS), SD Dombo University of Business & Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS), and University of Energy and Natural Resource (UENR).
The Agri Tech Pro teams showcased their business ideas from product and service delivery for sustainable production, to technological application, value addition, and eco-friendly packaging. The ideas from these young people are contributing to environmental responsibility and reducing the impact of agricultural activities on the environment.
The winning teams for the 10,000 USD Category include Aretha Forson (Takoradi Technical University); Bunny Bites (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology); Cas-Tech (Takoradi Technical University); DeliMush (university for Development Studies); Ghana Fert (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology); GreenHeart SE (Koforidua Technical University); Healthy Farmer (University for Development Studies); PaCo Paper (Koforidua Technical University); Rabitton ( University of Cape-Coast); Rijona Biochemicals ( University for Development Studies).
For following teams won USD15,000 each Agro KiniSols (Bolgatanga Technical University) and FreshLine Post-Harvest Solutions (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology).
In addition, UESD,20,000 each was awarded to following start-ups: DEECOM Nutrifoods (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology); Hullsnovation (University for Development Studies); Sunray (University for Business and Integrated Development Studies); Tekcycle (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology); FEEP Fibertech ( University of Energy and Natural Resources); and Harvest Ease Innovations (University of Energy and Natural Resources).
3 Farmate Robotics (University of Ghana); Green Husk Innovations (University for Development studies); Sunify Solardry Technology ( University for Development Studies) each won USD30,000L while McHan Cosmetics (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology) and YARP Foods (University of Energy and Natural Resources) each was awarded USD35,000.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of Kosmos Innovation Center, Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, underscored the relevance of the competition in nurturing young entrepreneurs for the agricultural ecosystem. “Since its inception, the KIC AgriTech Challenge Pro has played a major role in shaping the mindset of young people about agriculture. Every year, we focus on building viable businesses that have the potential to create economic empowerment for young people. KIC also provides the requisite training, tools, network, and resources to help these businesses thrive and grow”, said Benjamin Gyan-Kesse.
Mr. Gyan-Kesse reiterated the commitment of KIC and its partners to supporting initiatives geared towards unlocking the potential of youth to contribute to national development by leveraging on agriculture.
In his remarks, Mr. Gottfried Odamtten-Sowah, Head of Entrepreneurship at the Mastercard Foundation noted that collaboration and innovation in building the next generation of players for the agricultural sector are key to driving change and fostering growth in the nation’s agricultural space.
“We believe in supporting young people to find dignified and fulfilling work by nurturing innovation, fostering entrepreneurship, and providing opportunities for skill development for young people we achieve this ,” he added.
KIC remains committed to transforming the lives of young people by providing them with capacity building and funding support to scale up their business.
THE EXECUTIVE Secretary for Cote d’Ivoire Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CGCI), Mr. Alex Asanvo, has stirred controversy at the ongoing World Cocoa Conference in Brussels, after taking on global cocoa marketing giants for refusing to pay realistic prices for farmers and producing producers
In an emotionally charged delivered during a panel discussion, Mr. Asanvo questioned why buyers of the commodity have over the years failed to truly live up to their billing by paying actual prevailing prices often quoted by global news cables.
The Executive Secretary of the CGCI is of the view that global cocoa buyers have always exploited the market to their benefits, a development he believes always leaves farmers and producing countries at the bottom of an inequitable trade regime.
In the midst of the increasing prices of cocoa on the global market, farmers and civil society groups in producing countries are making a strong demand on buyers to apply the $10,000 Dollars as the basis for payment to reflect current trends.
The demand, in the view of Mr Assanvo is one that is putting pressure on governments in terms of domestic pricing but which is not reflecting on the market.
“Today, all the global news cables are quoting $10,000 Dollars as price for cocoa on the international markets; this has put pressure on governments of producing countries as farmers and civil society groups push for local prices to be set at prevailing figures on the international markets but let’s ask ourselves if buyers are willing to pay same” Mr. Asanvo observed, as he joined panelists on Monday to discuss the topic “The quest for the living income of smallholder farmers: why are we stuck and how can we fix it?”
According to Mr. Asanvo there are excessive demands from buyers on producing countries without commensurate actions from the market players themselves, stressing that there is lack of trust, consistency and stability in all facets of arrangements amongst the various key stakeholders in the global cocoa value chain which have over the year impinged effective implementation of policies and programmes, including the Living Income Differentials (LID) for the benefit of farmers
Whilst touting the significant progress made in the strong advocacy for a living income for farmers, which in the last five years assumed a front seat in global discussion resulting in the introduction of the LID, the CGCI Executive Director said more needed to be done to actualize an ideal compensation for the toil and sweat of farmers.
“We all know, that from whatever position we’re seeing it from, we owe farmers a living income. We cannot shun our responsibilities and capabilities – because we know we can make it. So yes, things have changed tremendously, hence my nuance on “why we are stuck”. We are not stuck. We are in a dynamic process. The peripherical idea of a living income for farmers – has come to the center of the conversation. And this panel is illustrative of that” He emphasized
On the question of whether the LID has failed its intended purpose or not, Mr. Asanvo likened the policy to pointing to a moon and actually reaching it, arguing on the affirmative that despite the criticisms, the circumvention and the weaknesses encountered as a results of origin differential downsides, the policy has still survived and continues to target a floor price to enable farmers get a living income”
According to Mr. Asanvo, in order to engender trust, there is the need for accountability and transparency from all stakeholders, this he argues, were being done by producing countries through constant publication of the average achieved forward sale price and building a traceability system where not only volumes, but prices will be traced.
He contends that like producing countries, the companies also be more accountable and transparent as well.
“This, they can do Disclosing how much they source at country level every year; how many farmers are in their sustainability programmes and how much they’re earning. We need some data to get to the moon. What cannot be measured cannot be fixed”he said.
The Executive Director of the CGCI also advocated for consistency on issues of sustainability, stressing that living income should be mainstreamed across the sustainability regulations of exporting and importing countries.
According to him, sustainability voluntary programs should reward farmers with a living income or living income price, since the issue of sustainable cocoa cannot be attained without paying farmers a living income.
Mr. Asanvo advocated for a stable and predictable market forces to help shape expectations towards an ambitious plan that guarantees a living income for farmers, asserting that “producing need a predictable floor price, with a dedicated mechanism to deliver it irrespective of terminal market prices since history shows that commodity markets are prone to price falls as sudden as price rises – and sadly for farmers, falls are way longer than rises.”
On Tuesday, 2nd April, 2024, the Minority in Parliament issued a press statement demanding an immediate increase in the producer price of cocoa to ameliorate the plight of Ghanaian cocoa farmers.
This demand was predicated on the recent surge in the world market price of cocoa to an all-time high of averagely, US$10,000 per ton, which is equivalent to GH¢130,000, at a conservative exchange rate of US$1 to GH¢13. This amount translates into GH¢8,125 per bag of cocoa on the international market.
It is sad to note that the newly announced producer price of GH¢33,120 per ton, which translates into GH¢2,070 per bag, constitutes a paltry 25.47% of the world market price of cocoa.
Once again, we wish to reiterate that this is a rip-off of our hard working cocoa farmers, as it constitutes the lowest percentage of the international market price of cocoa ever given to Ghanaian cocoa farmers as farm-gate price in the history of this country.
The current increase in the producer price of cocoa, which constitutes a trifling 25.47% of the international market price, contradicts an earlier pledge by President Akufo-Addo to give Ghanaian cocoa farmers a farm-gate price constituting a minimum of 70% of the international market price.
The Minority is appalled by the continuous swindling of Ghanaian cocoa farmers by the insensitive and corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government. Never in the history of our country has any government shortchanged our gallant cocoa farmers this way.
At a time when our national cocoa output has sharply declined from 969,000mt in 2016 to a paltry 450,000mt in 2024, the least expected of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government is to give our already-impoverished cocoa farmers a fair increment in the farm-gate price of cocoa to compensate for the huge losses they have recorded in their incomes.
We hold the view that any increase in the farm-gate price of cocoa below 60% of the prevailing international market price is a monumental rip-off of our suffering cocoa farmers. In other words, any increment in the farm-gate price of cocoa below GH¢5,000 per bag is grossly unfair and unacceptable.
The Minority wishes to serve notice that we shall haul the Minister for Agriculture before Parliament to answer for this broad daylight robbery perpetrated against our gallant cocoa farmers. While at it, the Minority shall, in the coming days, hold a series of engagements with cocoa farmers and other industry players on the way forward for Ghana’s dying cocoa industry.
SIGNED.
ERIC OPOKU (MP)
(Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agric & Cocoa Affairs and Member of Parliament for Asunafo South)
The Minority in Parliament has called for an immediate increase in the farm-gate price of cocoa in Ghana, citing the recent unprecedented surge in global cocoa prices.
In a statement signed by Member of Parliament for Asunafo South, Mr. Eric Opoku dated Tuesday, April 2, 2024, the minority expressed concern over the sharp decline in Ghana’s cocoa production under the current government, with production levels at their lowest in two decades.
The Minority highlighted that while the international market price for cocoa has reached $10,000 per ton, Ghanaian farmers are being paid a significantly lower amount of GHS1,308 per ton.
The statement, posted on social media [X] by the National Communication Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, accused the government of mismanagement and corruption in the cocoa sector, stating that the low prices being paid to farmers are leading to worsening living conditions for cocoa farmers.
The Minority also raised concerns about the high levels of cocoa smuggling, which they attributed to the lack of competitive prices offered to farmers.
They criticized the high administrative expenses of COCOBOD, the country’s cocoa regulatory body, and highlighted extravagant spending on items such as iPad keyboards for board members.
They urged the government to take swift action to save the cocoa sector in Ghana.
“It is instructive to note, that the average international market price of cocoa currently stands at Ten Thousand United States Dollars ($10,000) per ton (16 bags) of cocoa. This equals GHS130,000 per ton, at a conservative exchange rate of $1 to GHS13. This means that a bag of cocoa is currently being sold on the world market at about GHS8,125. At the same time, the Ghanaian farmer is being paid a paltry GHS1,308 by the insensitive and corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government.”
“This is a clear rip-off of our hard-working cocoa farmers by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government who continue to mismanage the cocoa sector. The NDC caucus in Parliament therefore demands that the government immediately increases the farm-gate price of cocoa to reflect the recent unprecedented hike in the world market prices of cocoa.”
An Agric Economist, Prof. Robert Aidoo has criticised Ghana’s forward sales strategy of cocoa amidst record high cocoa prices on the international market.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, the Agric Economist voiced concerns over Ghana’s missed opportunity to capitalize on record-high cocoa prices, which have surged to an unprecedented $10,000 per tonne on the international market.
He further likened it to a scenario where the country is paid for the commodity upfront, only to miss out on potential profit increases when market prices surge post-harvest.
This approach, he argued, limits Ghana’s ability to take advantage of favourable market conditions and maximize returns on its cocoa exports.
Prof. Aidoo further highlighted the lack of domestic resources and infrastructure to enable Ghana to purchase cocoa beans locally and store them in warehouses.
He argued that this inability to stockpile cocoa means that even when international prices soar, Ghana remains unable to release cocoa onto the market at higher rates, thus missing out on potential profits.
“It is just a shame that as a country we are unable to mobilize resources domestically to be able to buy cocoa so that we can hold it,”he said.
“Cocoa has served us very well but we have not served cocoa well”he noted.
The Economist emphasized the need for Ghana to reevaluate its cocoa marketing strategies and adopt measures that allow for greater flexibility in responding to fluctuating market conditions.
The Public Affairs Manager for Cocobod, Fiifi Boafo, who was on the show, explained that the forward sales strategy is to protect farmers from the hostility of the market.
Mr Fiifi Boafo attributed the decline in cocoa production to adverse weather conditions.
According to him, the significant impact of weather patterns on cocoa cultivation, including heavy rainfall at the start of the cocoa season is a primary concern.
While acknowledging that rainfall is essential for cocoa production, he noted that the excessive precipitation experienced this season hindered the fruiting process, thus reducing the expected harvest.
Prof. Robert Aidoo
Furthermore, Mr Boafo highlighted the detrimental effects of severe harmattan conditions on cocoa pods, exacerbating the situation.
“The major contributory factor for low cocoa production is the weather situation we’ve experienced this cocoa season. It started with a heavy rainfall. Then it got to a time where you expected the pods you had to develop for you to harvest then we experienced severe harmattan.
“So this El Niño challenge is largely a contributory factor to the low production we experienced this year,”he told host Evans Mensah.
Mr Boafo also highlighted the swollen shoot disease that has plagued cocoa production.
Giving more details, he said about 590,000 hectares of cocoa farms in Ghana have been affected by the said disease.
Given that, these farms are under rehabilitation and are not producing cocoa beans at the moment.
“At the moment, about 590,000 hectares of cocoa farms in Ghana have been affected by swollen shoot and so it is affecting production. Indeed, we are rehabilitating some of these affected farms. And since the only known solution is cutting the affected trees, all the affected farms are not fruiting at the moment, “he said.
Ghana, one of the world’s leading cocoa producers, has been grappling with declining cocoa production in recent years.
The challenges posed by unpredictable weather patterns, illegal mining, and smuggling among others further exacerbate the already existing pressures on the industry, with repercussions felt both domestically and globally.
Currently, there is a global shortage of cocoa beans, thus shooting up the price of one tonne of cocoa to an unprecedented amount of $10,000.
However, research shows that Ghana might not significantly benefit from this increment since cocoa production has also significantly dropped this year.
Ghana is set to lose access to a key funding facility as a crisis in its cocoa crop has left it without enough beans to secure the funds.
It’s the latest sign of the fallout from the extreme weather and disease that’s hit cocoa output in both Ghana and neighboring Ivory Coast, the biggest grower. Cocoa futures in New York have more than doubled to record levels above $9,000 a ton this year.
Now the country is turning to traders to try to plug the funding gap, according to Bank of Ghana Governor Ernest Addison. The Ghana Cocoa Board, the industry regulator known as Cocobod, relies on foreign financing to pay cocoa farmers for their beans.
“The second tranche of the cocoa loan is being put together by a consortium of cocoa buyers,” Addison told reporters in Accra on Monday.
Ghana, the world’s No. 2 cocoa producer, secured an $800 million loan at the end of last year from a group of eight banks, led by Cooperatieve Rabobank UA. Cocobod, doesn’t have enough beans to support the second and final $200 million drawdown from the commodity-backed facility, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private.
It’s not “prudent” to go for the additional drawdown, said Fiifi Boafo, a spokesman at Cocobod. “Management has decided to avoid an overstretch in the repayment,” he said.
Ghana’s funding challenges come as the cocoa harvest for 2023/24 looks set to total about 422,500 to 425,000 tons, half the country’s initial forecast, according to sources familiar with the matter. Without Cocobod payments, farmers won’t be able to afford the seedlings, chemicals and fertilizers that are essential to a healthy crop.
Cocobod, which has previously obtained loans from investors at better rates than the government, would normally conduct an investor roadshow between June and July each year and sign the syndicated facility in September before the new harvest begins in October. Last year, the talks were complicated by the West African nation’s debt restructuring.
As a consequence, it only signed a loan agreement in December and at a record high interest rate of 8%. It was originally scheduled to access the final tranche in January.
Standard Chartered Plc and Societe Generale SA were among the other banks participating in the syndicated loan.
Rainforest Alliance, a renowned non-governmental organisation (NGO), in partnership with the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) and Solidaridad, has held a five-day sensitisation training as part of the implementation of a project dubbed: “Tackling forced and child labour in Ghanaian cocoa and goldmining”, with funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD) Cooperation.
The intensive Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop held from 3rd to 8th March 2024 at True Vine Hotel in Kumasi was attended by selected news editors and senior reporters specialised in agric and mining reporting across the country.
Most of the Participants were also members of a vibrant Ghana Agricultural & Rural Development Journalists Association (GARDJA) led by Mr. Richard Frimpong, the President of the Association.
Participants and Facilitatators in a group picture
The project, among other things, seeks to deepen the knowledge and understanding of journalists, companies, gold mining and farmer associations, cooperatives, civil society and government social protection service providers and also take steps to minimise child and forced labour in their operational areas.
As part of the process, a consulting team was contracted to undertake research on Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) practices within Ghana’s cocoa and gold sectors to better understand current models, strengths, weaknesses, gaps and opportunities.
The outcome of the report supported by feedback from relevant government and private stakeholders culminated in the development of a draft HRDD tool which has been piloted and validated.
To scale up usage of the tool, its rollout has been planned to support stakeholders in the gold and mining sector to prevent, identify, address and monitor child labour, forced labour and other human rights-related issues.
The key facilitators were: Madam Suzan Yemidi – consultant and Basit Lawal – consultant, with the support of
Joyce Poku Marboah, Senior Project Manager, Child and Forced Labour, Rainforest Alliance.
According to the organisers, the five-day ToT was aimed at deepening the knowledge and understanding of professionals in journalism in agriculture.
The participants were taken through topics such as: human rights issues in the cocoa and gold sectors of Ghana, child labour and forced labour, gender equality issues in the cocoa sector and gold sectors.
Other topics were: Introduction to the GS-HRDD Toolkit, Introduction to Risk Assessment and Mitigation, Introduction to Grievance, Grievance Mechanism, Remediation, Monitoring and Communication.
The facilitators revealed that
the initiative was to assist the media and other participants on how to navigate and apply the gender-sensitive Human Rights Due Diligence Toolkit with the farmer cooperative or gold mining associations at community level.
They announced that similar training sessions had also been organised for several stakeholders, including farmer groups and associations, NGOs and civil society organisations (CSOs) on child labour issues, etc.
The beneficiaries of the various training sessions, especially farmers, had been educated on how they could engage their children and dependants to help on farmlands, by giving them light work that could not be considered as child labour and forced labour.
Madam Suzan Yemidi – consultant and Basit Lawal –
Both organisers and facilitators, therefore, rallied the support of the media to use their media space to provide the needed education to help eliminate child and forced labour as well as gender discrimination in workplaces, especially in the cocoa and mining sectors.
Mr. Richmond Frimpong, the President of GARDJA, commended Rainforest Alliance and its partners for the training for their members.
According to him, GARDJA was committed to partnering and collaborating with all relevant stakeholders to promote the agricultural sector.
He also urged participants to put to good use the knowledge acquired and train their colleagues and reporters on right reporting on child labour and forced labour.
A cross-section of participants, who spoke to this paper, described the five-day training session as an eye-opener and a challenge for them to do more. They also praised the organisers and facilitators for the insightful engagement.
Associate Professor of Soil Fertility at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof Kwame Agyei Frimpong, has expressed deep concerns about the lack of investments in the agricultural sector.
He further lamented the huge investments pumped into beauty pageants and musical concerts, which benefit a few, calling on Ghanaians to invest in the agricultural sector as well.
Addressing participants during ‘The Swedru Conversations’ under the theme ‘Feeding Ourselves as a Nation,’ Prof Agyei Frimpong bemoaned the lack of support for the agricultural industry, calling for massive support for people in the value chain.
The event is an annual thought leadership program organized by the Alumni Association of the Swedru Senior High School, which took place on Monday, February 12, 2024, at the Alisa Hotel in Accra.
Prof Kwame Agyei Frimpong
“We need to rebrand agriculture, we need to view agriculture as a business as a sustainable and profitable profession. We should look at agriculture from the value chain perspective. In Ghana, we have a season of glut and seasons of scarcity. We need to develop infrastructure for distribution and storage. Some people have the money, imagine if this event was a beauty pageant, a musical concert, or some sports event, you cannot imagine what the attendance would have been.”
He stressed, “Even if people were supposed to pay through their noses, they would do it. But because it’s agriculture, see how many of us are here. That is how we treat our agricultural industry. But I dare say that those of us who decided to do agriculture even up to this point cannot hold our own very much against our contemporaries.”
Some Scenes from the event
Prof Agyei Frimpong advocated for the youth to venture into agriculture, arguing that there are more job opportunities in the sector than in other professions.
He also urged government to focus on agricultural training and not only STEM education.
“We have classmates who are lawyers, medical doctors, you name them, but we’re not poorer than they are. We can do maybe better than they do. I can tell you that for those of you who are students, there are perhaps even more opportunities in agriculture than there are in other professions,” he advised.Source: Leticia Osei
