CSUC to benefit from Korean IT expertise

The Christian Service University College, in Kumasi, has welcomed a team of Korean IT volunteers into the country, to help in the training of students and faculty members in mobile application development and other IT related programmes.

The visit of the Korean IT volunteers, who will be in the country for eight weeks, was facilitated by the Ghana Internet Safety Foundation (GISF) in partnership with CSUC through the World Friends IT Volunteers (KIV) program organized and operated by the National Information Society Agency (NIA), Republic of Korea.

KIV provides the recipient countries and organizations with IT learning courses and other IT-related volunteering activities to meet the demand in sharing their IT knowledge and skills.  KIV also participate in IT projects such as maintenance or development of IT systems or applications, while conducting co-projects with students and faculties of various universities.

At a meeting with the newly appointed President of CSUC, Prof. Sam Afrane, to formally welcome the 8-member team and receive a full brief on their visit, he noted that academic exchange programmes is a major feature of modern academic system.

He said such programmes affords ‘lecturers and staff move to other universities and colleges to promote academic exchange and more importantly to promote international understanding.’

He said doing these enriches the cultural view of the world while also enhancing cultural understanding and tolerance globally.

He expressed his delight with the visit of the Korean IT volunteers particularly to the Christian Service University College given the huge impact their coming would bring to the Computer Science Department of the School.

He noted that the visit also offers an avenue for the School to begin high level discussions in how to collaborate more in the area of staff development, research and other areas of cultural exchange.

He said although much of their time would be spent in the Afigya Kwabre District, also to offer ICT training to some basic teachers among others, CSUC sees itself privileged to have contributed to offer the opportunity for the basic school teachers and students to also benefit from the visit of the team.

“As an academic institution, we are not only supposed to promote teaching and learning, but also supposed to make direct contribution to society,” he stated.

Head of GISF, Dr. Yeboah, added that the coming of the volunteers, from Korea Tech University in Gumi and Kumoh Institute of Technology also in Cheon-An, all in South Korea, would not only be of benefit to students of CSUC but also students of other IT colleges and universities in the country.

In a related development, a joint delegation led by the Christian Service University College (CSUC), paid a courtesy call on the Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Woon-Ki Lyeo in Accra.

The delegation led by the Vice President of CSUC, Prof. Stephen E. Owusu, went to officially introduce the 8-member team from the World Friends IT Volunteers from Korea who are partnering the Department of Computer Science of CSUC to undertake the IT-related community impact projects.

The Korean IT volunteers comprising of two teams, HotSpot and Nda Gukunda, will also train students and faculty of CSUC and other interested persons in IT to improve their knowledge and skills.

Specific area of focus will include the development of android mobile applications that relates to internet safety.

At the visit, various issues of common interests were also discussed. Prof. Owusu called for support for CSUC’s ongoing ICT/Library complex project, as well as investment in the ICT infrastructure of the University College.

Both sides further discussed ways and means to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas such as cultural relations, ICT training and institutional development.

The Korean Ambassador Lyeo, welcoming the delegation, said “the visit provides a platform for CSUC to discuss the potential areas of collaboration with the Government of Korea and other academic and research-based institutions in Korea.”

He expressed delight at the visit and thanked the authorities of CSUC for initiating such bilateral partnership between the institution and Korea.

Ambassador Lyeo also expressed the hope that the visit by the Korean IT volunteers would be useful and contributes significantly towards the development of the country, particularly in the area of ICT.

USAID SSTP projects improving lives of rural farmers in A/R

Support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the implementation of its Scaling Seeds and Technology Partnership (SSTP) project in some three districts of the Ashanti Region, is impacting heavily on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers spread across the Region.

The SSTP project, a 3-year initiative which forms part of the G8’s New Alliance for food security, is being funded at a cost of about US$420,000, and is intended to accelerate smallholder farmers’ access to transformative agricultural technologies.

The project is an up-scaling of a previous AGRA led initiative to produce and supply improved cassava cuttings. It is building on the successes gained under the AGRA project to further develop the capacity of some agro-based industries and farms to benefit more farmers.

It aims to increase the production of high quality disease-free seeds of cassava, yam, maize and soybeans, and ensure that more farmers in the country gain access to innovative agricultural technologies, in ensuring food security and poverty alleviation.

To make things more feasible, the SSTP project is seeking to build a competitive and market-based Root and Tuber Commodity Chain (R&TCC), and also working to link small producers, processors and traders to larger scale industrial end-users such as breweries.

The SSTP project is currently being implemented in the Mampong Municipality, Sekyere Central and Ejura Sekyeredumase districts with local partnership support from Josma Agro-Insdustries and Pee Farms Limited.

At a visit to Josma Agro-Industries by a team of media personnel to assess progress of work, Mrs. Janet Gyimah Kesse, Managing Director of Josma, explained that the project, which was started in September 2014, is at the moment at the multiplication stage.

She noted that even at this level, the project has been of huge benefit to the three districts  with the training of over 1,500 farmers, while a projected 20,000 people are also expected to benefit from other community and radio engagement and educative activities instituted to support the farmers.  

She said the overall project execution would position Josma to produce and supply about 7.2 million seeds of cassava, 500,000 mini-sets of yam and expected to cover about 46 hectors of yam and cassava farmlands.

In all, she listed that an estimated 64,000 famers and households, within the Mampong Municipality and its immediate environs, would benefit from the SSTP project.  

She said the project has increased the knowledge of farmers on the benefits of using certified cassava and yam seeds as well as its continuous availability for smallholder farmers in the project intervention zones.

She also mentioned that it has also improved the adoption of the high quality seeds of cassava and yam and the delivery of certified planting materials directly to smallholder farmers among others.

The MD earlier indicated that AGRA’s support to Josma, in the past, helped to multiple about 40 hectors of 10 varieties of cassava leading to the production of about 4.2 million cassava seeds supplied to over 1,260 farmers within Mampong and the other two surrounding districts.

She said the improved variety and disease resistant cassava cuttings produced as compared to the low yielding local variety, have a shorter maturity period and are able to fetch over 12 to 15 tons of cassava depending on the soil type.

She said Josma also makes good use of the cassava produced into high quality cassava flour and industrial flour and supplied to the export and local markets and schools.

Mrs. Gyimah Kesse said her challenge has particularly been the unreliable rainfall pattern, absence of ready market for produce of out-growers and increasing huge cost of labour among others.

“The solution to solution to labour issues is total mechanization but doing that would also put a lot of people out of work,” she stated.

At Ejura, the Chief Executive of PEE Farms, Alhaji Issifu Pangabu, a former Member of Parliament for Ejura Sekyeredumasi Constituency, said PEE Farms has received grant from USAID to produce and supply of high quality seeds of improved maize and soybean varieties to smallholder farmers.

He explained that this would also help to create awareness among smallholder farmers on the importance of using high quality certified seeds of improved varieties and also improve their distribution networks through engaging agro-dealer to service farmers in the project intervention areas.

He noted that most Ghanaian farmers are not able to make enough money from their farming activities because they lack knowledge in the right seeds adoption and poor farming practices.

“Farmers don’t plant the correct seeds, what they plant is grain, but seeds are certified and tested and gives one has an idea of the germination percentage even before you go ahead to plant it,” he said.

He said it was against it is this backdrop that USAID has come in to support in the scaling up of the seeds industry and get the right varieties of seeds for farmers.

He advised that Ghanaian farmers adopt hybrid maize seeds because it can withstand drought, and specifically also due to the unpredictable nature of the weather.

He said PEE Farms has developed about 600 acres of different varieties of seeds made up 40 acres of hybrid seeds, 110 acres of open pollinated variety (OPV) and 450 acres of out-growers.

He said about 400 farmers within the Ejura Sekyereumasi district and its environs have been exposed and trained on the various varieties and right farming practices to achieve maximum yield.

PEE Farms has already harvested 180 metric tons of maize an 85 metric tons of soybeans working with about 360 farmers who have been put into groups of 20 of 18 members each. It also cultivated 180 hectors of OPV maize and 120 hectors of soybeans.

He said PEE Farms is targeting to produce 10,000 mini-bags of both hybrid and OPV through the SSTP project.

The SSTP project which has been made possible with the help of the generous support of the American people through USAID is hoped to further transform the lives of smallholder farmers in the country.

Making the unknown public ...: Find ways to capitalize MFIs – GAMC demands

Making the unknown public ...: Find ways to capitalize MFIs – GAMC demands: The  National Board Chairman of the Ghana Association of Microfinance Companies (GAMC), Mr. Collins Amponsah Mensah, has described as welco...

Find ways to capitalize MFIs – GAMC demands

The  National Board Chairman of the Ghana Association of Microfinance Companies (GAMC), Mr. Collins Amponsah Mensah, has described as welcoming the latest decision by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to revise the minimum paid-up capital of microfinance institutions (MFIs), but insists there should be a clearly cut-out plan to assist MFIs to raise capital, henceforth.

He said the move by the Central Bank, to increase the core capital of microfinance institutions, will contribute to enhance the operations of MFIs and further strengthen them to protect depositors’ funds, as expected.

However, he observed that although the directive is going to help those in the industry, how microfinance institutions would raise this money remains the headache. 

He said “as a country we have to look at institutionalizing structures that make it easier for these institutions to be able to raise the needed capital.”

His comment follows a notice by the Bank of Ghana to rural and community banks (RCBs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to adjust their minimum capital requirement for the industry applicable to both existing and new entrants, in accordance with Section 6 (2) of the Banking Act, 2004, Act 673, and Section 11 of the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Act, 2008, Act 774.

The notice post that microfinance institutions, both Deposit Taking and Non-Deposit Taking, which hitherto required GH₵100,000.00 to operate, are expected to raise their minimum paid-up capital to GH₵2,000,000.00 representing a 1,900 percent increase, within the next three years.

RCBs on other hand, are to gradually meet a new capital requirement of GH₵1,000,000.00, from a previous GH₵150,000.00, representing about 566.67 percent increase, by 31st December 2017.

The directive, further notes that, MFIs which have been granted provisional approval by the Bank of Ghana, shall comply with a minimum paid-up capital requirement of GH₵500,000.00 and submit a credible capital plan to raise the minimum paid-up capital to GH₵2,000,000.00 in accordance with the transitional arrangements, set out in the notice; while new applicants and those yet to secure provisional approval will have to with immediate effect meet the full capital requirement.   

Sadly, the fortunes of the once budding microfinance industry has declined drastically due to the loss in confidence of depositors, as result of the unprecedented collapse of many microfinance institutions in the country leading to the seeming unattractiveness of the industry, over the last three years.

He said “the market is reserved for Ghanaians, so as it is one can’t go for equity from outside,” and observed that going ahead to borrow, which is debt, to augment one’s capital base would rather increase one’s debt stock as opposed to increasing equity.

Mr. Amponsah Mensah, made these pronouncements in an interview with the media, said at the moment, the only means by which MFIs can add to their capital is by making more profit, but conceded that, the present state of the industry does not make it easy for many MFIs to attain their targets.

It was in view this that he asked that measures are instituted to help in capitalizing these institutions, given that the market is reserved for only locals.

He appealed to MFIs in the country to consider mergers; nine or ten institutions coming together to become one, in order that they can raise the required capital, as opposed to operating individually without the financial muscle to meet the latest requirement.

Farmers urged to back interventions to achieve food security

The Global Agriculture Development Director of DuPont Pioneer, Lystra Antoine, has asked food producers and other stakeholders in the agricultural value chain to support effort to combat the threat of food scarcity, brought on by the fast changing global climatic conditions and population explosion, mostly in the developing countries.

She repeated the call for agriculture in developing countries to undergo significant transformation in order to meet the related challenges of achieving food security and responding to climate change.

She said ‘projections based on population growth and food consumption patterns indicate that agriculture production would need to increase by at least 70 percent to meet the needs by 2050.’

Lystra Antoine, who was speaking at a programme promotion of the Ghana Advanced Maize Seed Adoption Program (GAMSAP) organized by the USAID and DuPont Pioneer, in Kumasi, urged all the stakeholders in the agricultural sector to see this need as a shared responsibility and contribute to ensure food security.

She noted that the demand for maize locally, is so high that it would take quite a while and many more farmers producing at large quantities to satisfy the demand.

Against this understanding, she applauded the gains made so far in the GAMSAP programme while underscoring the need for all the players in the sector to play their part to sustain the success recorded and expand the programme beyond its current stage.

The Ghana Advanced Maize Seed Adoption Programme (GAMSAP), is a US$4 million, four-year partnership of DuPont-Pioneer and the USAID aimed at increasing the productivity and profitability of smallholder maize farmers in Ghana.

The financial and technical assistance from USAID being provided under GAMSAP is in accordance with its Global Development Alliance (GDA), a public-private partnership scheme.

GAMSAP is being implemented nationwide by ACDIVOCA as part of the Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) project.

ADVANCE is a USAID funded agricultural value chain project focusing on maize, rice and soybean. The project follows the first ADVANCE project implemented from 2009 to 2014.

The current phase started exactly a year ago with total funding of over $38million with $2million of the funding coming from DuPont Pioneer specifically to promote the adoption of hybrid maize seed in Ghana.

Chief of Party of the USAID-ADVANCE Project, Dr. Emmanuel Dormon, said maize yields of beneficiary farmers in the three northern regions increased from an average of 1.6mt/ha in 2011 to 2.9mt/ha in 2013 while the national average yield stood at 1.7mt/ha that same year.

He said the average gross margins increased from $313 to $539 per hectare over the same period.

He said the results obtained from the demonstration sites set up under GAMSAP with DuPont Pioneer,lastbyear, were very encouraging, recording average yields of 6mt/ha and some as high as 11mt/ha.

Dr. Dormon said ‘hybrids seeds are generally not cheap but the returns on it more than compensate for the investment made, especially when used in combination with the right types and quantities of fertilizer.’

He said the project strategy is to work closely with the private sector, supporting the input dealers to effectively distribute production inputs to farmers to enable them to improve their yields.

“We also work closely with buyers and processors to purchase the produce after harvest. This strategy will result in strengthening and sustaining a market driven system that will thrive beyond the life of the project,” Dr. Dormon said.

The Ashanti Regional Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Kweku Minkah Fordwour, expressed appreciation for the introduction of the programme to the Region.

He said the Ashanti Region is well placed to promote the hybrid maize seeds given her vibrant market including the poultry and livestock industries.

While endorsing the high yielding hybrid maize seed, he assured farmers that there is a vast difference between genetically modified organisms (GMOs) crops and hybrid maize seeds, and entreated them to opt for it.

He announced that Government would soon introduce a fertilizer subsidy programme with the level of subsidy likely to be announced by close of the month.  

This disclosure comes barely some few weeks after President John Mahama said in his ‘State of the Nation Address,’ in Parliament, that 180,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer would be made available for use of farmers.

Bringing the unknown to your knowledge ...: “Add value to boost Ghana’s exports trade”

Bringing the unknown to your knowledge ...: “Add value to boost Ghana’s exports trade”: The Ashanti Regional Minister, Hon. Peter Anarfi Mensah, has underscored the need for local manufacturers and exporters to improve on the...

“Add value to boost Ghana’s exports trade”

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Hon. Peter Anarfi Mensah, has underscored the need for local manufacturers and exporters to improve on the value of exports from the country, in order to position the country to gain competitive advantage in the exports market.

He said Ghana stands the chance to take a leading role in the exports trade if the quality of exports abroad is significantly improved.

He said a lot more has to be done, particularly those in the manufacturing sector, to enhance the ‘finishing and packaging’ of goods and other items exported from the country, while also shifting from the traditional export to non-traditional export trade.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, who said this at the visit of the Chief Executive Officer of the Export Trade, Agriculture and Industrial Development Fund (EDAIF), Dr. Bafour Osei, and some officials, at the Regional Coordinating Council, in Kumasi, called on the youths to embrace activities of the Fund.

He said EDAIF has the capacity to massively reduce the unemployment situation in the country, and thus charged the youth to bring their resourcefulness to bare and take advantage of the existence of the Fund to enter into productive ventures.

The former educationist also waded into the calls for a paradigm shift in focus of the country’s educational delivery system to one that equip students with the necessary entrepreneurial skills.

He was very optimistic that the Fund, in the not too distant future, would be able to turn round the economic fortunes of the country as he relentlessly urged the youth to go into agriculture production.

He pledged the support and readiness of his outfit to collaborate and corporate with the Fund, in whatever direction, to ensure the success of the operations of the Fund in the Ashanti Region and beyond. 

The CEO of EDAIF, Dr. Bafour Osei, explained EDAIF has undertaken a number of initiatives, in addition to pursuing the mandate of the Fund, to also help to tackle the country’s unemployment situation.

He said for example that the EDAIF contributed the seed capital for the establishment of the Youth Entrepreneurship Support Fund, launched by President John Dramani Mahama in the beginning of the year, as well as a Graduate Entrepreneurship initiative, which targets products of the various tertiary institutions in the country.

He said the Graduate Entrepreneurship initiative is intended to support and empower graduates with innovative ideas through an incubation system to help them to develop bankable projects which could also offer employment opportunities to others.

He consequently said EDAIF has received a number of applications with this initiative, with a number of applicants from the Ashanti Region, and are being evaluated for the award of the sponsorship likely by July 2015.

Dr. Osei also disclosed that in addition to these initiatives, the Fund has also come up with a Cassava Project to look at the industrial use of cassava. He said this Project in its first phase has targeted at those in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions.

He said it is planned to produce cassava floor as an industrial product which will run on a simple module whereby some key people would be expected on board to setup processing facilities and work together with other out-growers to ensure sustained production.

KMA closes down Kejetia Lorry Terminal

The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has taken steps to halt trading activities in the Kejetia Lorry Terminal to pave way for the construction of the proposed modern market to begin.

The Assembly, as at Monday morning, had barricaded almost the entire market to prevent further trading activities in the market.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the Assembly, Mr. Godwin Okuma Nyame, the exercise follows relocation plans agreed upon with the leadership of the various trading association of the market.

He said prior to the exercise, several announcements were made to inform the traders of the impeding exercise.

He however denied citing any court injunction stopping them from carrying out the relocation exercise.  

The relocation and subsequent closure of the market, which begun some weeks ago, has meanwhile incurred the wrath of some displaced traders who were locked out of the market.

It would be recalled that some traders of the market have for some time now opposed the announcement and plans to redevelop the market and has embarked on a number of demonstrations to protest this decision.

However, officials of the Assembly, in series of media interviews had maintained that the delays in the relocation exercise could likely stall progress of work, given that the contractors had moved to the grounds to carry out preliminary works for the first phase of the project to begin.

Chairman of the Kejetia Traders Association, Kwabena Obeng, noted that the exercise had been carried out in defiance of the laws of the country.

He said a court injunction has been served on the Assembly ordering on the ongoing relocation exercise being carried to be halted, until the concerns of the traders were addressed.

He said the leadership of the market would quickly convene to plan their next line of action against the Assembly.

A close view of the Kejetia Terminal, in Kumasi