GSMA announces mHealth partnership across sub-Saharan Africa

The GSMA has launched its Mobile for Development mHealth programme, an inter-industry partnership to connect mobile and health industries to reach the millions of pregnant women and children in sub-Saharan Africa.

The new cross-ecosystem partnership is designed to provide a range of mHealth services to women and children, with a particular focus on nutrition.

Initial launch partners for the initiative include Gemalto, Hello Doctor, Lifesaver, Mobenzi, Mobilium, MTN, Omega Diagnostics and Samsung.

This programme could have far-reaching impact. According to GSMA Intelligence, there is a total annual, addressable market of 15.5 million pregnant women and mothers with children under five years of age.

“This new mobile ecosystem partnership, developed by the GSMA, is committed to connecting the mobile and health industries to develop commercially sustainable mHealth services that meet public health needs,” said Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA.  “The companies in this partnership are working to deliver the objectives of the United Nations Every Women Every Child Global Strategy, as well as the Global Nutrition for Growth Compact, in the areas of nutrition and maternal and child health. We call on mobile ecosystem players, health providers, governments, NGOs, civil society and others to work with us to launch life-saving mobile health services.”

 

The partners will jointly launch services in seven countries - Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia - from September 2014.

Phase two, which commences in 2015, will incorporate additional partners and services and will address four more countries: Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Collectively, the partnership will reduce barriers to handset ownership and connectivity for consumers and health workers by committing to offer discounted Samsung handsets and tablets to consumers and health workers across Africa; Provide access to the Samsung ecosystem (e.g. music, video and other value-added services) to be used as an incentive to drive health usage; Pre-embed a Smart Health application that provides a range of professional applications, information and services on 80 million Samsung handsets; and leverage existing and new MTN SIMs to allow free access to health content, health registration and data collection via the Smart Health application.

 

It will also provide simplified access to MTN mobile money, advertising and billing capabilities; and make innovative diagnostics like the Omega Diagnostics Visitect HIV CD4 point of care solution more affordable and accessible via mobile integration.

Through these commitments, the partners aim to simplify the relationships between mobile and health stakeholders, while maximising the ubiquitous nature of mobile technology and its capabilities for health providers and, ultimately, for patients. Health content, patient registration, data collection and critical diagnostics will increase the access to health care for vulnerable women and children across Africa, while providing the delivery mechanism for mHealth services that are commercially sustainable and scalable.

“This partnership heralds a new era in the delivery of health care in Sub-Saharan Africa, where currently access to even the most basic of health services remains the worst in the world. MTN is therefore proud to be part of this collaborative effort, which will deliver solutions that harnesses the expertise of some of the leading companies in the world, to improve access to health care for many of our customers across the seven launch countries,” said MTN Group Chief Commercial Officer, Pieter Verkade.

 

“Current lab based static diagnostics tools are unable to meet growing patients’ needs as countries step up their HIV treatment programs in conjunction with the decentralisation of CD4 testing.  Multi-layer partnerships for mHealth smartphone applications are poised to become an essential foundation in the bridge to augment the continuum of care to the neediest patients, whilst also providing management information and real time surveillance data,” said Andrew Shepherd, Founder and Managing Director, Omega Diagnostics Ltd.

“Healthcare in Africa has benefited greatly from advancements in mobile technology. Simultaneously, the healthcare industry is moving towards a delivery model that is more patient-centered, value-based and accessible in even remote environments. In this regard, Samsung is perfectly positioned to add value to this digital evolution in healthcare, as our devices are both at the cutting edge of innovation and available widely across the continent. These capabilities provide the much needed healthcare support in Africa, ensuring that we are aligned with the Millennium Development Goals as set by the United Nations,” said Thabiet Allie, Head of Content and Services at Samsung Electronics Africa.

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. 

PACJA to sponsor three African journalists to UN Climate Change Summit

Three overall winners of the 2014 African Climate Change and Environmental Reporting (ACCER) Awards will enjoy an all-expense paid trip to cover the 20^th Session of the UN Summit on Climate Change in Lima, Peru later this year.

The cost will be covered by organizers of the Awards, the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) and partners.

The winners include Patrick Mayoyo from Kenya, Arison Tamfu from Cameroon and Kofi Adu Domfeh from Ghana.

These are among five African journalists declared winners of the 2^nd ACCER Awards held in Nairobi, Kenya on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA).

Diane Nininahazwe of Burundi Radio Ijwi ry'amahoro was the overall winner in the radio category in French while Kofi Adu Domfeh of Luv Fm in Ghana won in the radio category in English. Arison Tamfu from Cameroon was the overall winner in the print category while Patrick Mayoyo won in the online category and in the television category Zeynab Wandati emerged the overall winner.

The runners-up in the print category were Greg Odogwu from Nigeria and Bob Koigi from Kenya while in the Radio category the runners up were Wambi Michael from Uganda and Jacob Safari from Kenya. In the online category, the runners up were Violet Nakamba from Zambia and Busani Bafana from Zimbabwe.

Other runners up were Rose Wangui from Kenya and Noela Luka from Kenya in TV category while Didier Hubert Madafime from Benin and Gabriel Adonou from Togo emerged runners up in the radio category in French.

All winners, out of the 309 entries, received cash prizes, trophies and certificates.

The entries were audited and judged by a panel of seven judges headed by Dr. Barrack Muluka, who at the Gala Night appealed to PACJA to partner with Media organizations, learning institutions and experts to improve the level of writing and communication skills amongst African journalists on climate change and environment.

PACJA secretary general Mithika Mwenda said the Alliance will continue to play a major role in nurturing innovative ideas necessary to effectively confront the main challenges of 21^st century.

“These complex challenges such as climate change will require collaboration from various stakeholders to defeat and that is the spirit the ACCER Awards exemplifies,” he said.

Mithika said the ACCER Awards partnership strengthens the trust between the civil society and the governments in Africa.

“Indeed, this resonates with the UN call for collaboration to defeat the challenges of climate change,” he added.

African countries remain the greenest on earth yet vulnerable to climate change caused by emissions of developed countries.

Whilst countries in Africa look at the challenges posed by climate change of socio-economic development, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) says it would also be necessary for the continent to explore opportunities therein.

UNEP’s Director of the Africa Regional Office, Mounkaila Goumandakoye, is emphatic on renewable energy as an area to explore.

African governments urged to boost agriculture as AU leaders meet

As the African Union summit takes place in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, the Africa Progress Panel urges African leaders to invest at least 10 percent of their national budgets in agriculture, fulfilling a pledge first made in Maputo in 2003. So far few countries have achieved the 10 percent target.

With about two thirds of all Africans depending on agriculture for their livelihoods, boosting agriculture is an essential strategy to reduce poverty and inequality, allowing more people to benefit from Africa’s impressive economic growth.

“If we want to extend the recent economic successes of the continent to the vast majority of Africa’s inhabitants, then we must end the neglect of our farming and fishing communities,” said Kofi Annan, Chair of the Africa Progress Panel.

This year’s Africa Progress Report Grain, Fish, Money: Financing Africa’s green and blue revolutions finds that agriculture will allow Africa to capture the commercial and economic opportunity of the world’s rapidly growing demand for food, which is expected to double by 2050.

“The world’s burgeoning population needs to be fed and Africa, our continent, is well positioned to do so. We have enough resources to feed not just ourselves but other regions too. We must seize this opportunity now,” Mr Annan said, adding that “Africa’s productivity levels, already beginning to increase, could easily double within five years”.

 

This year’s Africa Progress Report shows that transforming the continent’s agriculture requires that smallholder farmers have better access to both financial services, including loans and insurance, and infrastructure.

Mr Annan indicated that “unleashing Africa’s green revolution may seem like an uphill battle, but several countries have begun the journey”. Innovative technology developed by young Africans provides another opportunity to improve smallholder agriculture. Mr Annan said “impressive innovation and smart government policies are changing age-old farming ways.”

In countries, such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, government efforts to boost their agricultural sectors are already bearing fruit, with rapid agricultural growth driving their national economies.

“We have to significantly boost our agriculture and fisheries, which together provide livelihoods for roughly two-thirds of all Africans,” Mr Annan said.

“As the Africa Progress Report 2014 lays out in telling detail, agriculture can be the engine that drives the kind of growth that Africa needs; growth that benefit everyone including the rural poor... Africa will come into its own as a global food powerhouse”, said Linah Mohohlo, governor of the Central Bank of Botswana and member of the Africa Progress Panel.

 

Chaired by Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, the ten-member Africa Progress Panel advocates at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. The Panel releases its flagship publication, the Africa Progress Report, every year in May.

Ghanaians get mathematical as the Black Stars take on Portugal

After staging an impressive 2:2 drawn game with Germany in the Group G encounter on Saturday, the Black Stars of Ghana have succeeded in reigniting national interest in the Brazil 2014 football tournament.

The team’s chances of progressing to the next stage of the competition is dicey but the enthusiasm of soccer fans in Ghana and indeed most parts of Africa is high.

Ghanaians had backed their hopes on Portugal to beat the USA to increase the Black Stars’ qualification opportunity. But this did could not materialize, as the Portuguese struggled for a last minute equalizer in yet another 2:2 score line with the US.

“It was an amazing game; Portugal Vs USA. No team is safe now. The draw gives Ghana a chance, but they have to beat Portugal by 3 goals. Yes They Can,” Kenyan journalist, Geoffery Onditi stated on his facebook wall.

Like Geoffery, most Ghanaians have put on their mathematical lenses to calculate the possibility of the Black Stars coming up ahead of the USA and Portugal in the group.

According to the soccer mathematicians, a Ghanaian win over Portugal and a possible German win over the USA will push the Black Stars to the next stage of the competition. But a drawn game between German and the USA will see both teams qualifying.

The cautious optimism expressed by fans in Ghana ahead of the Ghana-Germany game has now given way to a hopeful enthusiasm as the Stars go into the next game on Thursday.

“Brazil is getting quite exciting and this is one of the best tournaments by goals and quality of play,” stated fanatic Kojo Amoh at one of the public viewing points mounted in Kumasi, Ghana’s second capital city. “I just want the Black Stars to stay on longer in Brazil so that the fun of the tournament will be complete.”

There is high expectation for the Black Stars to repeat their last performance when they take on Portugal and most importantly the fans want the goals to flood in.

Coach Kwasi Appiah would be at the centre of affairs to ensure the whipped up enthusiasm is sustained.

He is already in history as the first Ghanaian coach to take the Black Stars to the World Cup and would want to prove a worthy point in the last Group G match.

One Ghanaian player who knows a lot about the Portuguese pattern of play is winger, Christian Atsu, who played for two clubs in Portugal for three years.

According to the Chelsea player, the game is would be challenging but he is confident of a Black Stars victory.

This level of the team’s confidence is also upheld by skipper Asamoah Gyan who says his team mates are psychologically poised to beat Portugal to make progress.

Unfortunately, the team’s training session has been hindered by the players’ uneasiness on the non-payment of allowances and appearance fees. They need to the appeased with their financial arrangements if they are to go all out against Portugal.

The players were promised an appearance fee of $75,000 each for qualifying for the tournament in Brazil but according to Spokesperson for the Ghana Football Association, Sannie Daara, the players are yet to receive any money two weeks into the tournament.

 

President John Mahama has intervened to ensure the players are paid.

These challenges notwithstanding, the Black Stars would have Ghana and Africa engrossed in a game of determination and prowess ingrained in mathematical analysis.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Originally commissioned by Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil's largest newspaper.

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/esporte/folhanacopa/2014/06/1476435-o-ganes-apelando-para-a-matematica.shtml

African Agribusiness Forum at AU Summit sets agricultural transformation agenda

The African Agribusiness Forum, held ahead of the 23^rdOrdinary Session of the Assembly of African Union Heads of State and Government has set the agenda to enhance private sector engagement and inclusive agribusiness transformation in Africa.

The Summit is being held under the theme: “Transforming Africa’s agriculture for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods; harnessing opportunities for inclusive growth and sustainable development”.  

It is also being held in the 2014 AU Year of Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Security and the commemoration of the 10 year anniversary since the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) was adopted.

AU Commissioner at the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, says the last decade of CAADP implementation, has redefined and reshaped the critical path to the attainment of Africa`s agricultural transformation objectives.

She informed the Forum that the recent AU Joint Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia adopted a Resolution endorsing seven Africa Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation Goals (3AGTGs) for 2025 for consideration by the AU Heads of State and Government, at their Malabo Summit.

The joint conference recommended among other things the need to enhance Public-Private Partnerships and Investment Financing for African Agriculture and called on stakeholders to establish and/or strengthen inclusive public-private partnerships for at least five priority agricultural commodity value chains with a strong linkage to smallholder agriculture and to strengthen the capacities of domestic apex private sector intermediary institutions for inclusive facilitation and coordination to ensure engagement of the private sector in CAADP implementation.

“This forum will, therefore, provide an opportunity for men, women and youth stakeholders in the agribusiness sector to discuss and develop concrete strategies for the realization of these recommendations,” she said. 

 

In a key note address, the new AUC Head of Division of Agriculture and Food Security Mr. Boaz Keizire, highlighted the key opportunities and challenges for enhancing Africa’s agribusiness value chains and the outcomes of the AU Joint Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development and Aquaculture.

Articulating financing for a greener economy in the face of climate change

Leaders from the world of business, finance and industry are participating in a symposium convened by the United Nations Environment Programme on mobilizing capital to facilitate the transition to greener economies.

This forms part of the First UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA) underway in Nairobi, Kenya to mark a historic milestone in UNEP’s 43-year history.

UNEA is the newly constituted UN high-level platform for decision making on environment that is tasked to chart a new course in the way the international community addresses environmental sustainability challenges.

"The convening of the first UNEA session in Nairobi - home of UNEP and the often referred to environment capital of the world - represents a coming-of-age for the global environment community,” said Mr. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

 

The symposium offers a space for African civil society to articulate climate-friendly resolutions that protect the livelihood of vulnerable communities.

Secretary-General of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, Mithika Mwenda, has noted that the changing climate is the root cause of poverty.

“We depend on rain-fed agriculture and that woman in the village plants her crop, they geminate, but because of the erratic nature of rainfall as a result of climate change, that maize will not mature and those are the challenges that our people have been going through,” he observed.

 

He is worried the effects of climate change will affect the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The challenge, according to Mithika, is to cap global emissions; enable people in developing countries have a future; get equitable, all inclusive and universally accepted Climate Change agreement in 2015.

“We cannot ask poor people and developing countries to bear the burden of the challenge,” he stated.

 

A green economy is an economy that promotes sustainable human wellbeing and social equity, whilst significantly reducing environmental risks.

The industrialized countries must therefore make financing available for poor countries to mitigate the effects of climate change, said he PACJA Secretary-General.

“There is no doubt that in order for poor countries and those in Africa particularly to address climate change adequately and sufficiently, they need to be facilitated with adequate finance from industrialized countries,” said Mithika.

The Green Climate Fund was set up by the UN as a mechanism to transfer money from the developed world to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.

As much as $15 billion is expected to be raised by the end of 2014 to start financing projects and developing nations want industrialized countries to show how they intend to reach the $100 billion a year they pledged to deliver by 2020.

“The UN process must work for Africa and climate change should become an urgent political issue in which governments, international agencies must be challenged,” Mithika enjoined.

The first session of the UNEA under the theme: “A Life of Dignity for All” will define the UNEP’s ability to address the greatest environmental challenges facing the world today and in the future and provide inputs to the definition of the post-2015 development agenda – ensuring that environmental concerns are reflected and integrated into post-2015/Sustainable Development Goals framework.

The UN Under-Secretary-General says that despite some setbacks, notably in the climate change negotiations, there is broad consensus today that environmental protection requires addressing the relationship between humanity and nature.

"Now more than ever, it has become increasingly clear that the dichotomy between environmental sustainability and economic and social development should be overcome through the careful management of natural resources as the keystone of a prosperous and stable society,” said Mr. Steiner. “In this new forum, UNEP and its partners will be able to provide governments and other policymakers with the science, policy options and platform, for international cooperation to more effectively address the environmental dimension of sustainable development."

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh/ in Nairobi, Kenya

Media academy for African climate change and environment reporters

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) has launched a media academy for African journalists reporting on climate change and environmental issues.

Dubbed “The ACCER Awards Finalists Academy” (TAAFA), the project builds on PACJA’s objective in its strategic plan 2011 – 2015, which seeks to ensure enhanced and positive media coverage of climate change interventions in African continent.

This is in addition to training workshop and other reward-motivation initiatives, including ACCER Award Scheme as well as sponsorship of selected journalists to international forums.

In their report during the inaugural edition of African Climate Change and Environmental Reporting (ACCER) Awards, the Judging Panel expressed concerns on environmental journalism in Africa, prompting them to declare that there was no entry item that warranted the Best Award due to what they termed as low quality of entries.

As part of the recommendations, the judges charged PACJA that they “redesigned the training and capacity building programs, to ensure it does not end as an event but a continuous process that will ensure that they truly build the capacity of journalists in Africa as well as keeping them glued to the climate change and environmental reporting”.

PACJA Secretary General, Mithika Mwenda said TAAFA will not only give impetus to already existing training and reward schemes, but will also ensure sustainability of the capacity building project”.

He said PACJA has sought partnership with institutions offering professional training on journalists, environment, climate science and diplomacy.

“TAAFA will in the long run be a competitive integrated environmental and sustainable development Centre of excellence in Africa, he noted.

Every year, journalists entering the ACCER Awards competitions will be selected in the preliminary stage, called finalists stage. These will automatically qualify to attend the Academy (TAAFA) which will be held prior to the Awards Gala Night where the Winners would be announced.

In 2013, PACJA hosted a three-day training workshop for environmental and climate change journalists across Africa, whose key outcome was a loose network – Pan African Media Alliance on Climate Change(PAMACC) – which has continued to glue them together after the workshop.

Through a blog, the participants to that workshop have been able to interact on regular basis, share information and expand their outreach to journalists beyond the workshop.

 

“Yet, more need to be done to facilitate continuous capacity building which will go beyond events,” stressed Mithika on the need of the Academy.

Ghana cautiously optimistic of a win over Germany

All has not been well in the camp of the Ghana Black Stars since Monday’s 1:2 loss to the USA in the ongoing 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Reports of player’ revolt against the team’s coach and management have been denied by the Ghana Football Association but public commentary and debates point to a team which is not united to take on Germany in the 2^nd Group G match in Fortaleza on Saturday.

Some of the Black Stars’ senior players are alleged to have threatened to leave camp in protest of the selection policy of coach Kwasi Appiah in the USA game.

But GFA spokesperson, Ibrahim Saanie Daara, has dismissed the allegations as untrue.

Throughout the week, Ghana’s 25 million population has been reviewing the match between Ghana and the USA – whilst some questioned the coach’s selection criteria and tactics leading to the loss, others believe Ghana was just not lucky on the day.

Coach Kwesi Appiah is however confident his team would bounce back better to stage a formidable game against Germany, who are three times winners of the World Cup.

According to him, the team “will get better in our coming games and make sure that we qualify…It is not going to be easy but we will work hard at it.”

Ghana needs to maximize all three points against Germany if the Black Stars are to keep alive hopes of qualifying from the group stages of the tournament.

 

Sports analyst, Dr. Danny Owusu Ansah, says Ghana should not panic because “it is not the first time we are meeting a giant at the World Cup and we should be able to hold them [Germans] at least in the first 15minutes and then we settle with them and play.”

He attributes Ghana’s loss to the US to “creativity upfront” hoping this will improve if “the coach is careful by studying the opponents before embarking on any strategy before any match.”

Ghana’s Midfielder, Michael Essien, who suffered a toe injury, is expected to pass a fitness test to be available for the game. It is however unclear if defender Rashid Sumaila, who is also responding to a toe injury, could make it to the starting lineup.

A major attraction of Saturday’s match is the possible clash between Germany’s Jerome Boateng and his half-brother, Kevin-Prince Boateng of Ghana.

The siblings, both born in Berlin to separate mothers, set a record in South Africa as the first brothers to play against each other at a World Cup finals.

In that game in Johannesburg, Germany won by a lone goal over Ghana but both sides proceeded to the knock out stage.

On Saturday, the Germans would be seeking to maintain their lead in the group after thrashing Portugal 4:0 in their opening match.

There is some level of skeptism among Ghanaians on the possibility of winning against Germany.

The usual World Cup euphoria is virtually absent on the streets of cities in Ghana. Some traders in Black Starts paraphernalia are reporting drop in sales and other businesses are worried of decline in patronage should the Ghanaian team suffer yet another defeat.

 

Dr. Owusu Ansah is however optimistic of a good score line in favour of the Black Stars.

“It is not the first time Germany is going to lose against a mino and so I believe that fans should be optimistic; we shouldn’t expect too much from the team though, because other big teams have lost and they are out of the competition. I still think the Black Stars can shine,” he expressed.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Originally commissioned by Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil's largest newspaper.

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/esporte/folhanacopa/2014/06/1473799-o-ganes-cautelosamente-otimista-quanto-a-vitoria-sobre-a-alemanha.shtml

Ghanaian scientists fail to communicate relevance of biotech to public

Public skepticism on the application of biotechnology in Ghana’s agriculture production will persist until education is heightened and sustained for people to make informed choices, says Dr. Peter Twumasi, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, KNUST.

According to him, the scientific community has failed to effectively communicate the relevance and benefit of biotechnology to the public.

“If you are in a scientist and you are in the lab working and you think you’ve found something that is really of importance to the public, you must not avoid communication with the people who are actually the end users,” he noted.

He says such engagements will build public confidence and reduce real or perceived risks associated with every technological innovation to increase usage of product.

Biotechnology involves technological applications that use biological systems, living organisms or their derivatives, to make or modify products or processes.

Pressure groups, especially the Food Sovereignty Ghana, has been vocal against the promotion of genetically modified (GM) foods in Ghana and also resisting passage of the Plant Breeders’ Right Bill currently before parliament Os in Ghana.

Dr. Twumasi however says GM crops have enormous benefits in local agriculture production, especially reduction in use of fertilizer and pesticides by farmers.

The US Embassy has been engaging interest groups on biotechnology awareness creation to strengthen Africa’s capacity for safe management of biotechnology in sub-Saharan Africa for enhanced food security.

Dr. Hans Adu-Dapaah, Director of the Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is positive about the acclaimed impacts of modern biotechnology on agriculture, human health and the environment through increased crop yields, drought-tolerant and disease-resistant crop varieties, reduced use of pesticides and herbicides, production of nutritionally enriched foods and affordable vaccines.

 

“It is the gene revolution that holds the only real hope to end hunger,” he opined. “Agricultural biotechnology is a key tool on the development of new crops and promises to deliver stepwise changes in input and quality traits. It is generally accepted that GM crops will be one of the many strategies needed to clothe and fuel nine billion people estimated to be living by the year 2020.”

Dr. Adu-Dapaah however acknowledged genetically modified organisms might be associated with new risks to other organisms and the environment whilst posing significant challenges to policy makers.

“The controversy surrounding biotechnological developments and applications, has led to the development of international treaties and protocols on biosafety, to provide regulatory framework to ensure environmentally safe applications of modern biotechnology in medicine, agriculture and the environment in sustainable manner and avoid endangering public health or limit its damaging effects, if any,” he emphasized.

 

Dr. Twumasi is also advocating local generation of genetically modified crops, including plantain and cassava, rather than depend on importation of crops developed in other countries.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Ghanaians fired up for a third World Cup thrashing of USA

Ghana’s social media space, especially facebook, is agog with heightened expectations of the country’s national team raising the flag high at its third appearance of the football World Cup.

“All other factors being equal, the Black Stars of Ghana will make an indelible impression on the football world,” wrote football pundit, Listowell Bukarson on his facebook wall.

The Black Stars’ 4-0 thrashing of South Korea in a friendly to head to the Brazil 2014 mundial has boosted moral in camp and among the citizenry.

Such was the spirit when the Black Stars progressed at the 2010 tournament in South Africa – the entire African continent was behind the Stars but unfortunately got eliminated ‘cruelly’ by Uruguay in a penalty shootout.

Interestingly, Uruguay denied Brazil the opportunity to celebrate their first world title as hosts of the tournament in 1950.

The Black Stars understand the task ahead to meet the expectations of the teeming support base across the African continent and other parts of the world.

US veteran midfielder, Kyle Beckerman, has acknowledged it will take the best of his side to beat a Ghanaian team that “looks strong, fast and technically good”.

The Americans are however confident of winning their first match against the Black Stars in one of the toughest Group G encounters in Natal on Monday, June 16.

"We can do it," a confident Kyle told the ESPN.

But Ghanaians do not regard their US as their ‘co-equals’ on the field of soccer, proudly inferring to two World Cup elimination of the Americans. Ghana defeated the United States in group play in 2006, and in the round of 16 in 2010.

Yet the Stars are not taking things lightly. Skipper Asamoah Gyan regards the first match as crucial in qualifying from the Group stage – he would not attempt letting Ghanaians and Africa down as he failed to convert a penalty kick that would have sent Ghana to the semifinals in South Africa 2010 tourney.

Gyan scored a goal against the South Koreans to indicate his drive to lead the team to lifting the World Cup. Together with Kelvin Prince Boateng and the Ayew brothers, Ghana will thrive on finishing off counter-attacking chances against the US.

Michael Essien’s inability to make it to the 2010 World Cup was described as a ‘drop in the share value’ of the soccer tournament, and his absence was a major setback to the Ghanaian team. His appearance in Brazil is expected to boost morale in camp to deliver on the expectation of Ghanaians.

FIFA rankings suggest Ghana is the underdog in talent-laden Group G, which also includes the No. 13-ranked United States, No. 2 Germany and No. 4 Portugal. But no one is likely to take the Black Stars lightly.

The match between Ghana and the United States is therefore a must win for either side if they are to progress to the next round of the competition.

Black Stars Coach, Kwasi Appiah is not oblivious of the task ahead – Ghanaians are demanding the goals to move to the finals of the game and he has already indicated the release of a new dance to celebrate a goal scoring against the United States.

Ghana would attempt to live home away from home in Brazil with a teaming fan base across the world cheering the Black Stars on to victory at the stadium.

Soccer fans in Ghana are also adoring the streets, public viewing points and other places with the Ghanaian national colours of red, gold and green as they converged to sing, chant and cheer the Black Stars to victory.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 

Originally commissioned by Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil's largest newspaper.

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/esporte/folhanacopa/2014/06/1470902-o-ganes-empolgados-ganeses-estao-prontos-para-eliminar-novamente-os-eua-da-copa.shtml