African governments urged to tap opportunities in soybean

Increasing the use of soybean in diets has a lot of nutritional benefits and will also create the critically needed demand to drive local production and boost farmers’ income.

Researchers and soybean processors say expanding the consumption of the "golden bean" would have a positive impact on the nutrition of women and children in Africa.

“To tackle malnutrition, we need to promote the use and consumption of soybean,” said Dr. Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General for Partnerships and Capacity Development at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

In Africa, malnutrition, particularly protein deficiency is widespread and animal protein is, often times, too expensive for most populations. Many legumes provide some protein, but soybean is the only available crop that provides an inexpensive and high-quality source of protein comparable to meat, poultry, and eggs.

According to Dr Dashiell, Africa needed to take advantage of the crop to drive sustainable development and agricultural transformation.

Dr Marilyn Nash, Program Coordinator, National Soybeans Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois, US, described soybean as a ''miracle bean'' because of its high nutritional value.

She said that Nigeria has the potential of becoming a global leader in the cultivation and processing of soybeans.

Dr Gbassey Tarawali, Head of IITA Abuja station urged food manufacturers to harness the potential of the crop.

"Africans only know about production of soybean and we do not understand that it is an excellent source of micronutrients," he said.

Tarawali added that blending soybean with maize, millet, and sorghum is good for consumption. This can help increase the protein quality of the food consumed.

In Africa dry soybeans are used to produce milk substitutes and flour. The bean curd is fried and eaten as a snack or breakfast food.

There have been calls on African governments to accord the "miracle crop" priority under the agricultural transformation agenda.

Researchers are of the view that the nutritional value of soybean made it an important crop, which governments should invest in for the attainment of food security as well as raising the health standard of the people.

World’s poorest nations can set international agenda for sustainable development

The least developed countries (LDCs) can play a critical role in ensuring that the new global sustainability goals – which the international community aims to have in place by 2015 — are both fair and effective.

But, for this to happen, the LDCs will need to redefine themselves according to their strengths, act to improve governance, and promote greater solidarity both with each other and with more developed nations.

These are among the conclusions that an independent group of thinkers from the LDCs will share in a new briefing paper and a series of meetings next week in New York City.

The Independent Expert Group members work in research institutes, media, civil society organisations and government agencies in 11 of the LDCs.

The group, supported by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), aims to influence the UN’s efforts to define global sustainable development goals to take effect from 2015, when the Millennium Development Goals expire.

“The Least Developed Countries are in many ways the weakest but they also have strengths such as, their local knowledge and institutions, their culture and values and their resilience to uncertainty,” says Dr Tom Bigg of IIED who coordinates the group’s activities.

“The LDCs can be leaders in the post-2015 process by promoting new forms of international cooperation that enables greater solidarity and sharing of knowledge and responsibilities,” he says. “They can act to redefine development assistance by working harder to use their national wealth to meet the priorities of the poor and they can do more to share their lessons and experiences of how to measure development and manage environmental resources.”

Members of the Independent Expert Group will be in New York City on 24-26 June to provide input into a series of meetings about the post-2015 development agenda.

Dr Essam Yassin Mohammed, a researcher with IIED and member of the Independent Expert Group adds that “the Independent Expert Group sees solidarity, rather than partnership, as being the key to effective international collaboration in the post-2015 framework as it implies shared interests and responsibilities rather than the outdated donor-recipient relationship.”

High savings withdrawal hits microfinance firms

Microfinance firms in Kumasi are recording high withdrawal rates as clients take precautionary measures to protect their savings.

This has been necessitated by liquidity challenges faced by some multi-branch firms in the past few weeks.

“We’ve seen huge withdrawals in member companies and this can’t continue; there should be a way out… We keep prompting ourselves that the more you branch the riskier it becomes and you also lose hold of control over your operations”, noted Collins Amponsah Mensah, National Chairman of the Ghana Association of Microfinance Companies (GAMC).

The public apathy has been attributed to the lack of safety nets to protect depositors when firms collapse or are shut by the regulator, the Bank of Ghana.

Abdulai Rabi, for instance, was promised a 10% interest rate on a three month fixed deposit product with Royal Winners Financial Services, one of the firms in distress.

He now fears losing his Gh₵25,800 investment. Abdulai has petitioned the Bank of Ghana as efforts to get a refund of his deposit have been futile.

The GAMC is looking forward to signing Memoranda of Understanding with the Bank of Ghana “where the regulator will assign responsibilities to us, so that we can play part of their supervisory and oversight role for them and they also support us to put in the right structures and systems to be able to support that assigned role and responsibility”.

Mr. Amponsah Mensah says such mandate would empower the GAMC to aid the regulator to inject disciple and sanity in the microfinance industry.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Chief to champion Suame industrial development project

A traditional leader has been appointed by the Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization (SMIDO) to spearhead negotiations with key stakeholders for speedy takeoff of a project to transform the artisanal cluster.

Nana Owusu Peasa II, Chief of Adubinsokese, would lead efforts at mobilizing political and traditional leadership support for the adoption of the SMIDO-Otumfuo Industrial Center project.

He is custodian of the one thousand acre land in the Afigya-Kwabre District of Ashanti being earmarked for the new industrial complex to accommodate artisans in the quest to modern automobile repairs and maintenance.

The project has the potential to benefit from a multi-donor funding led by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), said a statement issued by SMIDO.

“Suame Magazine is just about one month away from attractive funding from DANIDA for technical support to transform Suame Magazine into a globally competitive industrial technology complex”, it said.

He however says the Organization must first meet some commitments from the central government and local authorities to facilitate project commencement.

The trend of Foreign Direct Investment inflows into Ghana for the past four decades shows that Ashanti region is not within the map of FDI attraction zone.

Acting SMIDO President, Sarpong Boateng has urged political, economic and traditional leadership in Ashanti and other parts of the country to rise to the challenge and adopt the industrial complex project “as the region’s investment gateway project for economic transformation to sustain and create employment for the huge mass of artisans in the region”.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Matters arising in Ghana’s banking industry

As part of measures to encourage the use of non-cash modes of transaction settlement, the Bank of Ghana, in consultation with the banking industry, has set a limit on the cashing of third party cheques over-the-counter at banks.

A third party payee is anyone other than the account holder.

Effective 2^nd July 2013, cash payments in honour of cheques to third parties at bank counters shall not exceed ten thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢10,000).

The limit does not apply to third party cheques that are presented for the credit of an account through clearing. It does not also apply where the payee is the drawer of the cheque.

However, customers of banks are encouraged to use the various payment instruments and products such as cards and mobile money available for transaction settlement in the banks and at point of sale terminals.

Banks and other financial intermediaries are encouraged to enhance and expand their facilities to assist in the enforcement of the said limit.

The Bank of Ghana expects that the implementation of the limit will also reduce the incidence of fraud and other malfeasance as well as reduce the scope for abuse of the banking system by criminals.

The threshold for encashment of cheques over the counter by third parties would be reduced further in January 2014.

In related development, Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited has introduced three additional e-banking products as part of its bouquet of electronic banking solutions aimed at both corporate and individual clients.

They include the GTPay, an integrated and secure online platform to enable corporate clients such as hotels, airlines, churches, educational institutions and supermarkets to accept payments on their websites; the Trade Tracker, a customer-driven product that allows individual and corporate clients to follow and monitor the processing of their trade transactions with the Bank; and the Return Cheque Notification system, an interactive platform that forwards notifications to customers in the form of an email and SMS  immediately an inward cheque is returned from a third party bank.

Managing Director of GTBank Ghana, Lekan Sanusi, explained that at the core of the Bank’s values is the provision of convenient business solutions to all customers, and as such, new and exciting alternatives are constantly being offered to make the lives of customers easy.

“These additions to the bouquet of its electronic banking products and services come as testament to GTBank’s quest and success in offering convenient alternatives and the utmost satisfaction for customers when it comes to e-banking reliability” he stated.

Meanwhile, GTBank has completed its GH-Link ATM interoperability project led by GhIPPS to enable all its electronic terminals nationwide to accept other banks’ ATM cards. This is a way of facilitating business transactions and deepening the process of creating cashless society in the country.

The Bank presently operates from 24 branches spread across six regions in the country with advanced plans of covering the entire nation.

Community hails water aid from Baptist church

An intervention by the Grace Baptist Church in Kumasi to provide water facility to the Amakom suburb of the metropolis has alleviated the risk of children crossing high streets to access potable water.

According to chiefs and opinion leaders in the community, children and some adults have been exposed to vehicular knock-downs in their attempts to fetch water wherever available.

Amakomhene, Nana Adu Mensah-Asare, observed that “urban development project has left most communities in the city without water bodies”, hence local communities are severely handicapped when water does not flow through the taps.

The Baptist church responded to the need of the local community with the provision of a Gh₵14,000 mechanized borehole water facility. The inhabitants can now be supplied with 1,500 gallons of water daily.

Head Pastor, Rev. Robert Asante emphasized that the water needs of communities should not be taken for granted due to its vitality as a survival commodity for man.

“Apart from eternal life that Jesus alone gives, when it comes to the physical being the most important element is water – fluids constitute about 70 percent of the body and even the landmass of the earth, 70 percent is covered by water”, explained Rev. Asante on the importance of the project to enhance community lifestyle.

Assembly member for the Amakom electoral area, Stephen Ofori, was excited at the intervention to address the acute water situation.

“The struggle of travelling miles in search of potable water is now over”, he exclaimed.

 

He however decried the high rate of social vices, attributed to low educational standards in the Amakom community.

He called for support to promote quality education with the provision of library, computers and ICT facilities.

“Education will position the constituents to face life challenges and be able to grab opportunities as well as breed quality workforce”, stated Mr. Ofori.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Ghanaian farmers to access new rice and sorghum varieties

Farmers in Ghana would soon access new varieties of rice and sorghum from Mali and Senegal respectively to boost local production, under the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP).

Breeders at the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are adapting the varieties, which are expected to be released to farmers later this year.

Under the WAAPP, countries specialize in developing crops of comparative advantage for adoption by other countries. New technologies are put in a common basket for accessibility, in a bid to enhance integration and collaboration of agricultural research activities in the sub-region.

In Ghana, priority crops under the first phase of the ten-year project focused on root and tubers – mainly yam, cocoyam, sweet potato and cassava.

Communications officer for WAAPP-Ghana, Emmanuel Alorigiya, tells Luv Fm the second phase, which took off last February, has been expanded to cover grains, cereals and livestock.

Communication specialists under the Programme are undergoing training on management of agricultural communication in Kumasi. The workshop is to empower the officers in disseminating information on agricultural technologies to farmers, processors and marketers.

WAAPP is a sub-regional programme supported by the World Bank and implemented by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and CSIR.

The objective of the programme is to generate and disseminate improved technologies in the West Africa region and achieve 25 percent increase in the productivity of the main agricultural sectors of the participating countries.

Ghana National Project Coordinator, Mrs Azara Ali-Mamshie, is enthused at the programme success in the release of crop varieties to increase crop yields.

Cassava production, she stated, has increased from 12,000 tonnes per hectare to 35,000 tonnes per hectare in the beneficiary countries.

Low levels of technology adoption arising out of the lack of information and communication has been identified as a major challenge facing agricultural productivity in West Africa.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Asantehene wants government to stay off employment creation

The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has enjoined the government to wean itself off employment and job creation.

He says it should rather be the preoccupation of the government to come up with deliberate policies for private businesses to thrive.

“Policies must be put in place to help private sector to go into agriculture, to go into manufacturing, industrial development to create employment for the people. They [government] should come up with the right policies to facilitate private sector development”, he stated.

The Otumfuo was speaking in Kumasi at the grand opening of the corporate headquarters of Akuafo Adamfo Marketing Company, a subsidiary of Finatrade Group of Companies.

Managing Director of the company, Antoine BouDib acknowledged that “doing business in Ghana is getting more difficult on daily basis”.

Poor power supply is the topmost challenge restricting growth of businesses, according to the Association of Ghana Industries’ Business Barometer for the first quarter of this year. But the regular twin-challenge of difficulty in accessing credit and high cost of credit remains high.

According to the Asantehene, government should only come up with policy direction to address development challenges of private sector and not get involved in direct employment.

Tax incentives and concessions should be considered whilst empowering the banks to meet the needs of private businesses, he said.

“I know the banks alone cannot cope but there should be policies in place that would help advance private sector”, stated the King.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Akuafo Adamfo opens corporate headquarters in Kumasi

The Akuafo Adamfo Marketing Company Limited, a subsidiary of Finatrade Group of Companies, has opened its corporate headquarters in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi.

Finatrade’s strategy for 2013 is focused solely on increase in local production and distribution of agricultural commodities, and less attention on importation.

The company is therefore investing in expansion of local infrastructure for operational efficiency and job creation, especially in the cocoa and rice sectors.

Managing Director of Akuafo Adamfo, Antoine BouDib noted that the decision to locate its head office outside of the nation’s capital, Accra, falls in line with the company’s quest to stay closer to the farmers and staff in cocoa growing areas.

He emphasized the Finatrade Group’s confidence in the strength of the Ghanaian economy, whilst acknowledging that “doing business in Ghana is getting more difficult on daily basis”.

“Many investors came for quick money, maximized their profits and then took the lead back to their origins; these investors eat out of the plate of the good investors who aim to reinvest more and more in their respective industries”, observed Mr. BouDib.

In a decade of operations, Akuafo Adamfo has emerged as the leading private Licensed Buying Cocoa Company in Ghana. It commands 15 percent of the total market share, continually placing second in the league table of 29 LBCs in Ghana.

The Produce Buying Company (PBC) of the Ghana Cocoa Board is tops in the cocoa purchasing business.

The last couple of years of been challenging in the cocoa industry – including decreases in global prices of cocoa, threats of illegal mining which destroyed large stretch of cocoa lands.

Mr. BouDib pleaded with government and other interest groups like the COCOBOD for fairness, consideration and appreciation of LBCs’ role in national economic development.

“The LBCs offer jobs for hundreds of thousands of farmers, agents, purchasing clerks and staff. Our contribution to the economy is very vital; we add value to the economy without destroying the natural resource that Ghana has…we seek your support and help for the whole private sector”, he requested.

The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who commissioned the corporate edifice, commended the company for its “faith in Ghana” to invest, create jobs and support socio-economic development.  

He expressed confidence in the COCOBOD to promote fairness in the industry as well as continue to device policies to help the LBCs to develop.

The King is looking forward to Akuafo Adanfo growing its market share to 20 percent.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Least Developed Countries demand climate finance figures from rich nations

The world’s least developed countries have called upon the industrialized nations to provide detailed information about the finance they are willing to provide to help the vulnerable adapt to climate change.

Speaking at the end of international negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Group, Prakash Mathema, said greater financial transparency was needed to implement action to tackle climate change.

The LDC Group requests each industrialized country to provide information on the levels of finance they have provided in 2013 and how much they will provide in future years.

The group requests this information to include precise allocations for adaptation specifically, along with a breakdown of how much finance is for the LDCs.

The LDCs request that the richer nations provide this information at COP19, the 19^th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC, which takes place in Warsaw at the end of the year.

“Delayed climate action and lack of ambition to close the mitigation gap will cost more tomorrow than today. We need to move to a sustainable climate smart pathway where life is possible for all and for generations to come”, stated Prakash.

The LDCs, with their weak adaptive capacity and their extreme vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate change, have already witnessed many catastrophic climate disasters and these events are going to be more frequent, intense and unpredictable.

The level of concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached 400 parts per million, the highest level for some three million years. This has been described as alarming.

The LDCs Group Chair lamented the failure of parties to launch the negotiations under the UNFCCC’s Subsidiary Body for Implementation at the UN negotiations which ended in Bonn on Friday.

“This is of grave concern to us as issues of implementation are key for the LDCs. We expect this not to happen again at COP19 in Warsaw later this year. Communities around the world have high expectations regarding this process and hope that we, as climate ambassadors, will take some bold decisions very soon to protect humanity from the adverse impacts of climate change. To implement such decisions, financial support is key. We need to act now and we need to act together”, noted Prakash.

MTN Ghana records 250 percent increase in fibre cuts

Leading mobile telecom operator, MTN Ghana has suffered a 250 percent increase in fibre cuts within the past six months – from November 2012 to May 2013.

Last month alone, the company recorded 78 cuts mainly due to damages caused by construction activities.

MTN officials have also decried the spate at battery and diesel theft at the company’s base stations. The Ashanti region alone has recorded 225 battery thefts.

Other telecom operators are suffering similar challenges.

These challenges affect the quality of the service delivery; creating network congestion and increase in call drops, says Cynthia Lumor, Corporate Services Executive at MTN.

She is hoping an intervention by national security would curtail the trend of rampant fibre cuts.

National security has issued a directive to contractors and road builders to liaise with telecom companies to determine whether or not such fibres need to be moved before excavation for construction projects.

“We are hoping that this as well as all the engagement that we’ve been doing will decrease the incidence of cuts if not eliminate it totally”, says Mrs. Lumor.

 

About 15 percent of MTN Ghana’s total revenue goes into infrastructure development – company figures indicate $1.2billion has been invested since 2007.

According to Mrs. Lumor, MTN is spending $105million on infrastructure growth in 2013.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Taskforce dared to arrest chiefs benefitting from illegal mining

A small scale miner is daring the Inter-Ministerial Taskforce on illegal mining to go after chiefs who take huge sums of money to cede off lands to miners.

According to Kofi Boateng, the current drive to flush out galamsey operators would yield no positive results if the root factors are not critically assessed and the exercise prudently managed.

He says the arrest and prosecution of individuals engaged in illegal mining should be not exempt traditional rulers who directly benefit from such activities.

“They should go to the chiefs who personally sold the land to individuals… and even some of the chiefs go ahead and take money from these people and tell them ‘leave the pit, I will reclaim the land for you’ but they don’t do it; I have never heard the arrest of one single chief on this particular issue”, he told Luv Fm at a public forum on small-scale mining in Kumasi.

The forum, on the theme: “Optimizing the Developmental Benefits of Small-Scale Mining Sector” was organized by the Third World Network – Africa (TWN-Africa) with its associates in the National Coalition on Mining (NCOM).

Participants, including officials of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Minerals Commission as well as environmental NGOs and other interest groups discussed the challenges confronting small-scale mining in Ghana and opportunities to optimize potentials in the sector.

Mr. Boateng, who operates in the Amansie Central District of Ashanti, employs about 45 Ghanaians and other five Chinese. He claims to be losing his $6million investment due to the modus operandi of the taskforce.

He argued that small-scale mining has considerably reduced youth unemployment in the country, stating that the situation can be properly managed if authorities put in place proper regulatory measures.

Mr. Boateng is therefore urging government to reconsider its decision to chase Chinese illegal miners out of the country.  due to their expertise to help develop capacities in the small-scale mining.

Environmental degradation caused by illegal small-scale miners has called into question the impact of small-scale mining industry on the economy of Ghana.

The government in reaction set up the taskforce to tackle the situation.

The National Coalition on Mining is demanding that an immediate moratorium be placed on the granting of new reconnaissance and exploration licenses and mining leases for large scale gold mining.

The group believes that “the more land is given to large scale mining operators, the less there would be for potential utilization by small-scale operators”.

According to the Ashanti regional manager of the EPA, Isaac Osei, there have been recommendations for the registration of small scale miners to be decentralized to speed up the process of issuing permits.

He also expects the government to take up the challenge of reclamation of all degraded lands to pave way for the new era of small-scale mining regularization.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Patients worried over continued closure of hospital pharmacies

The worries of patients in government hospitals are far from over, as they go through difficulty accessing drugs.

The situation has been created by the continued strike by pharmacists, weeks after doctors returned from a similar action.

Healthcare seekers were denied total medical care when the two professional bodies laid down their tools over single spine issues.

With the return of the doctors the problem is only half solved because patients take prescriptions and look for the drugs elsewhere.

The Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA) has been on strike for several weeks demanding implementation of a ruling by the National Labour Commission (NLC) on their conversion difference and grading structure.

A visit to the Komfo Anokye Hospital in Kumasi reveals the pharmacies at both the main section and the polyclinic remain closed to the public.

Though many patients are registered for health insurance, they have had to buy at high prices, and pay up-front from private pharmacies.

Some patients who spoke to Luv News indicate besides the high prices, they have to walk long distances from shop to shop to get drugs to buy.

They are calling on government to resolve the impasse with the striking pharmacists to enable return to work.

Meanwhile, private pharmacists in the metropolis say they have recorded an increase in sales in recent times as their colleagues in public facilities stay out of work.

Some pharmacy shop owners explained patronage of their services has shot up as high number of patients with prescriptions seek alternative source for medication.

The private pharmacists have also joined in calls for speedy resolution of the impasse in the interest of patients.

The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission will be in court on Wednesday June 12, 2013 seeking a stay of execution of the NLC ruling.

A spokesperson for the GHOSPA, Courage Danku, told Luv News the Association is also cooperating with a cabinet sub-committee looking into their grievances.

My issues with the environment and climate change

I knew not much about climate change when I first wrote a poem on the environment http://www.voicesnet.org/displayonepoem.aspx?poemid=79967 , years ago during my sojourn in Lagos, Nigeria. But I was conscious all was not well with man’s inhumanity to planet earth.

It was not until 2009 that my consciousness blossomed during a science safari to Kenya’s South Rift Valley, where the East African pastoralists battled with severe draught – the rains will not come and water bodies had dried up, leaving cattle and man to compete for water to survive http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=287&s=b .

Yet back home in Ghana, the abundance of water had saddened some communities with attendant flooding. So was the situation; the severity of extreme conditions of draught and flood experienced by people in different parts of Africa.

The unexpected changes in the weather had indeed become a reality but people had least information what to do in the changing weather patterns – farmers especially were worried about when to plant as the seasons became increasingly unpredictable http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=443 .

In the midst of these realities, attitude towards the environment – forests, water bodies, waste management and land degradation through resource exploitation – remained largely pathetic.

My desire to act local in environmental protection and promotion was inspired by two exceptional drives to green the environment – the activism of Prof. Wangari Maathai to grow forests within the city of Nairobi and Johannesburg’s tree planting project http://kadafricana.blogspot.com/2011/11/changing-our-ways-before-were-changed.html . I wondered why my own city – Kumasi – had not lived up to the enviable accolade as ‘The Garden City of West Africa’!

Indeed I have always had a strong will to use my media platforms to champion issues of the environmental sustainability http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201303/103317.php due to its importance to sustainable development http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=514 . Unfortunately, specialization in journalism is a challenge and man must do a little bit of everything to stay in business.

My strategy therefore has been to use every opportunity to write about the environment http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201303/103097.php , even in my focal business and economic reporting. Hence, I prioritized Green Initiatives like promotion of clean cook stoves, http://www.ghanamma.com/2013/02/lpg-price-hike-to-worsen-ghanas-depleting-forest/ efficient energy alternatives http://www.new-ag.info/en/developments/devItem.php?a=2796 and waste recycling http://business.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201205/87382.php as well as carbon financing and trading opportunities http://business.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201301/100688.php .

I have passion for farming, food and agribusiness and it naturally falls in line with my quest to write on the environment. With over 70 percent of Africa’s population in small-scale farming, the impact of climate change would surely be telling on the sector with rippling impact on the gains in all other sectors of local economies.

Unfortunately, working in urban radio does not give enough room for a journalist to engage local communities with information on adapting to the changing climate. I was therefore humbled to learn the experience of Radio Ada and the impact of the community radio on the lives of the farming population in the Ghanaian locality. With very limited resources – semi-experienced staff, volunteering hands, poor broadcasting equipment and low advertising revenue – the radio station is indeed serving humanity.

 

This was my story, thanks to the support from the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and WRENmedia, UK. This radio piece http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=489 reflected my desire to use journalism to impact positively on society for development.

The politicians, blue chip firms and people in white colour jobs can always have their way through in media engagements, either by means of their influence, power or financial muscle. But who lends a voice to the voiceless, especially the poor farmer who produces food to feed all others?

My will is to use the least opportunity to support to upliftment of the poor, vulnerable and helpless segments of society through qualitative engagement with people in power and authority to change for the best.

The joy is to see the farmer harvesting higher yields, getting markets to sell produce, recording low waste, earning enough to cater for the health and education of the family and living a happy life.

If this comes with recognition of the reporter, we can only glorify God for the opportunity to lighten our small corner.

I therefore wish to thank the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), the United Nations Environment Programme and supporting partners for instituting the annual African Climate Change and Environmental Reporting (ACCER) Awards http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201305/106951.php .

I did not pick the ultimate award but I was honored to have emerged 3^rd best in the maiden Awards gala night in Nairobi http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201306/107293.php and indeed humbled by messages from friends, colleagues, personalities and institutions:

“Kofi really deserves this award. He is one journalist who really cares about the environment. SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana wishes him well....”

“Congrats Kofi Domfeh. I know you deserve it. I have previously called you to express my personal satisfaction for your environmental reporting. Soon, we will have the proposed workshop on environmental reporting. Congrats again” – Bossman Owusu, Tropenbos International Ghana.

“In my estimation you deserve more than this, but this could be the beginning of the emergence of a breakaway brand in Ghanaian Journalism. God Bless!” – Nyaaba Aweeba-Azongo.

The PACJA training for journalists and communication officers on climate change issues was great and I’m confident the formation of the new Pan African Media Alliance on Climate Change (PAMACC) will be the beginning of a raising awareness of critical matter of our lives.

But I’ve come to the understanding that life is full of challenges and that make the world interesting.

A case in point is my encounter with a Kenyan Police officer on the day of the Awards: I had managed to squeeze few Kenyan Shillings to buy some stuff from the Massai Market on the Mombasa Road. This so-called officer in plain clothing stops me right in the city centre and speaks Ki-Swahili to me. Of course I did not understand a hoot of what he was talking about and surely got apprehensive. This officer flares up and threatens to arrest me “for being rude to a police officer”. Matters calmed after few exchanges and interventions, mainly on the grounds of my profession.

After picking the award, some colleagues teased that I may have been in custody at the time my name came up as second runner-up. We made fun of the incident but this got me pondering what life is without some interventions? What is life when you cannot get help from anyone? Why should we live without thinking about the wellbeing of others???

As I returned home from the Nairobi trip, I watched my mentor, Kwaku Sakyi Addo on TV talk about his life and career and his parting words for young journalists were profound: “That story you are writing is a draft of your own recommendation”.

This is my providence: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom”, Ecclesiastes 9:10.

Asante!

Green thoughts from Mongolia on World Environment Day

Alarming environmental changes and disasters, unprecedented and unheard of before, occur at a greater rate. Climate change with ensuing water shortage, desertification, soil and vegetation degradation lead not only to depletion of natural resources, but also threaten the social and economic development of the entire world.

These are the words of Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, President of Mongolia as his country hosts the 2013 World Environment Day.

“Our blue planet is only one for all of us. Yet, our home Earth is visibly losing its vitality and pristineness due to the reckless policies and ruinous acts of its children, the human beings. Its resources are being exhausted and the safe livelihood of the humankind is gravely endangered”, said the President.

Mongolia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and aiming for a transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy and a green civilization.

Since millennia ago, Mongolians have lived in a genuine harmony with nature, just like a mother and child, especially their culture of treating water, the source of life on earth, is truly unique.

“The simplest but a very telling example is that the herders never use the same ladle for water and milk” said the President.

But like many low-income countries, climate change has led to drying up of many rivers and lakes in Mongolia, thus necessitating the country to draw concerted attention on water resources.

As one of the most-threatened by climate change countries, Mongolia has already suspended new mining concessions pending environmental safeguards and is working with partners in the UN and beyond to bring Green Development across the economy.

The country has also established Natural Resources National Parks to curb desertification.

“Our national parks and specially protected areas can be the backbone of ecotourism that would generate conservation income and green jobs”, said President Elbegdori. “Our vision includes targets for the uptake of solar and wind power that can fuel our economic growth, while exporting surpluses via an Asian super-grid”.

President Elbegdori, who was honored with the 2012 Champion of the Earth Award by the United Nations, has observed that environmental protection is not a single-day campaign but a life-long cause of day-to-day efforts of every citizen of the world.

He has proposed the establishment of a special UN body on Water, an initiative he believes will be supported by the global community.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh