African agric research institutions renew commitment to food security

Leaders of two foremost agricultural research institutions in Africa have reaffirmed their commitment to redouble institutional efforts and boost the agricultural sector in Africa.

Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Dr Yemi Akinbamijo and Dr Nteranya Sanginga, Director-General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)  have also underscored the need for deepening their institutional relationship to generate scientific innovations to create impact at farm levels.

IITA has a refreshed strategy which aims to raise 11 million people out of poverty and redirect 7.5 million hectares of degraded land in the tropics into sustainable use.

To achieve the vision, partnerships have been identified to be the main driver, in addition to capacity development.

The Institute is also implementing a Youth in Agriculture Program tagged: “Agripreneurs”, which aims to attract youth from different backgrounds into agriculture.

“As long as I see young experts coming from different disciplines working together in the agricultural sector, there is hope for Africa,” said the FARA Executive Director.

Dr Akinbamijo urged the youth to take advantage of the program and also tap the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for effective operation.

He comes into the leadership of the apex body for Agricultural Research and Development (ARD) in Africa with 30 years experience in animal health, market-oriented production systems, agricultural research, food security and rural development.

Speaking on the theme: “The Science Agenda for African Agriculture: Implications for IITA and other CGIAR actors,” Dr Akinbamijo stated that “to make impact and improve agriculture in the continent, we must work together, pull together, and deliver together.”

 

He noted that IITA has a unique stake in the context of African agriculture, and that a synergy between FARA and IITA is inevitable for agricultural development in the continent.

The development of an agriculture science agenda for Africa was a result of the Dublin Process—an initiative of African stakeholders in agricultural research and development, the CGIAR consortium and development partners aimed at improving alignment of CGIAR to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) agenda.

According to Dr Akinbamijo, the Dublin Process was inspired by the realization that CGIAR research programs could be focused – at least in Africa – to better address agricultural research for development needs articulated in country and regional agriculture and food security investment plans.

He also said IITA and other CGIAR partners have strategic roles to play in the science agenda especially in terms of building and developing capacities in the continent.

 

Dr Sanginga pledged IITA’s commitment to partner with excellent organizations such as FARA to create impact in Africa, stressing that to realize agricultural development, both international and continental, agricultural research organizations must join efforts and complement each other.

Bamboo charcoal technologies to boost Ghana’s green energy sector

The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) is promoting the production of bamboo charcoal and briquette as an alternative source of energy in Ghana.

The ‘Bamboo as Sustainable Biomass Energy’ initiative involves the transfer of technologies from China to Ghana to produce sustainable green biofuels, using locally available bamboo resources.

“Bamboo, the perfect biomass grass, grows naturally across Africa and presents a viable, cleaner and sustainable alternative to wood fuel,” says Michael Kwaku, Country Director for INBAR Ghana. “Without such an alternative, wood charcoal will remain the primary household energy source for decades to come—with disastrous consequences”.

Trees are cut usually for livestock pasture, farming and industrial purposes and burnt for charcoal. Lack of modern and affordable fuels and energy, such as LPG, electricity and solar power makes firewood and wood charcoal the preferred and most important source of household energy.

Scientists predict that the burning of wood fuel by African households including will release the equivalent of 6.7 billion tonnes of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere by 2050, resulting in further climate change through clearing of tropical forests.

In Ghana, about 65 percent of the rural population depends on the forest for fuel needs. Driven by growing concerns about energy, health and food security, the bamboo plant may be the key to combating soil degradation, massive deforestation and climate change mitigation.

"Ensuring food security in a changing climate is one of the major challenges of our era. It is well known that the destruction of Ghana’s forests has negative repercussions on livelihoods and sustainable agriculture as it feeds into a cycle of climate change, drought and poverty,"  states Gloria Asare Adu, Executive Director of Global Bamboo Product Limited.

According to researchers from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), years of tree-clearing for charcoal in some parts of Ghana’s Northern regions, particularly in the Upper West and Upper East Regions, have eliminated fragile forests that stood at the last line of defence against the conversion of sparsely forested dry lands and pastures into useless desert.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) also predicts that if business continues as usual, by 2030 biomass energy in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana will still account for about three-quarters of total residential energy, underscoring the urgency of coming up with a sustainable alternative biomass to replace wood.

“Rural communities need access to sustainable approaches that will keep trees in the ground and the environment safe,” stated Professor Karanja M. Njoroge, Executive Director of Green Belt Movement.

The entire bamboo plant, including the stem, branch and its rhizome, can be used to produce charcoal and briquette, making it highly resource-efficient, with limited wastage.

Its high heating value also makes it an efficient fuel – charcoal is made through the controlled burning of bamboo in kilns, whether traditional, metal or brick.

INBAR is adapting the bamboo charcoal technology in Ghana to produce larger quantities of charcoal to serve a larger number of rural and urban communities as well as to produce bamboo charcoal briquettes that are ideal for cooking – they burn longer and produce less smoke and air pollution than ‘natural’ or traditional wood charcoal.

"Feeding people in decades to come will require ingenuity and innovation to produce more food on less land in more sustainable ways", Gloria observed.

Communities in the Western Region are under a pilot of the bamboo charcoal project – a partnership among the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), the Bamboo and Rattan Development Programme (BARADEP) at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Africa and INBAR.

Chinese partners, including the Nanjing Forestry University and WENZHAO Bamboo Charcoal Co., are helping to adapt equipment like brick kilns, grinders and briquette machines for bamboo charcoal and briquette production using local materials.

The initiative has the funding support of the European Union and the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC).

Tropical bamboos such as the species found in Ghana can be harvested after just three years, rather than the two to six decades needed to generate a timber forest.

INBAR Ghana therefore wants the government and the business community to invest in the country’s emerging bamboo charcoal and briquette market.

“With further investment and policy reform, community kiln technologies could be upscaled to reach thousands of communities in Ghana,” says Michael.

China is a global leader in the production and use of bamboo charcoal, with a sector worth an annual estimate of $1billion and employs over 60,000 people in more than 1,000 businesses.

In addition to charcoal, bamboo offers many new opportunities for income generation – it can be processed into a vast range of wood products, from floorboards to furniture and edible shoots.

The world bamboo export was estimated at $1.6billion in 2009.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Suame artisans sign up for industrial estate project

The Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) is lending support for an industrial estate project to resettle automobile artisans at Suame Magazine in Kumasi.

The Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization (SMIDO) is spearheading the initiative to build a modern industrial complex for vehicle repairs and maintenance.

“The engagement with State institutions was one of the conditions by which we needed to convince DANIDA to support the development of the industrial village project”, stated Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, SMIDO Consultant.

The Danish development agency (DANIDA) has expressed interest to provide technical support for the project, but on condition that government demonstrates commitment to play its role in advancing the project.

Such commitment includes the provision of road infrastructure, electricity, water and security.

The RCC has now proposed the constitution of a seven-member committee to push the agenda forward – members will be drawn from the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, the RCC and representatives of the associations at Suame.

Also on the committee is the Chief of Adubinsu-kese, Nana Apeasa II, who is the custodian of 1000 acre land earmarked for the project.

Meanwhile, artisans at Suame and other automobile clusters in Kumasi have started signing up for the SMID Fund, managed by the United Pension Trustee of the Vanguard Assurance Group.

The industrial development fund has been launched as a self-initiative to provide a financial regime towards the development of the industrial complex project.

All mechanical associations and artisans in the congested industrial enclave are to register to secure space on the 1000 acre land for the industrial estate.

Suame Magazine is the single largest informal sector employer in the country, with a population of over 200 thousand.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Kuapa Kokoo sustains profit under unfavourable credit regime

For the second year running, Kuapa Kokoo Limited posted positive financial outlook, after turning its first profit last year.

The only licensed cocoa buying company owned by Ghanaian farmers has been recording loses for five consecutive years, since 2006.

Executive Director, Emmanuel Arthur attributes the improved performance to farmers’ commitment to supply cocoa beans to meet needs of the company.

Kuapa Kokoo has already exceeded cocoa purchase target for the main crop season, buying 43,364 metric tonnes – the highest is seven years.

Mr. Arthur is confident the financial postings will be sustained in the years ahead.

“But we think that the challenges are such that the kind of profits we make is not the kind of profit that will enable us do much for members of a farmer’ organization such as ours”, he complained.

He is particularly worried at high interest rates paid on loans, which he says is depriving farmers of dividends in the company’s financial postings.

“The problem is that you work and you see that you’re working for the banks; it is just because interest rates are very high”, Mr. Arthur told Luv Biz Report at the 19^th Annual General Meeting of the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union (KKFU) in Kumasi.

Kuapa Kokoo paid interest on loans in excess of Gh₵6.3 million on its Gh₵144m sales cost for the 2011/2012 financial year. A profit of Gh₵388,265 was declared, against the Gh₵725,000 for the previous year.

A favorable economic condition would boost business and trading climate for cocoa farmers to experience positive impact on livelihoods, said the Executive Director.

Mr. Arthur also enjoined the farmers to adhere to standard practices to reap full benefit from cocoa production.

Factors militating against production include challenges in the haulage of cocoa beans from farming villages, poor processing and sorting of beans and unfair financial practices of cocoa purchasing clerks.

The 83,000 Kuapa farmers received bonuses from Fairtrade premium of Gh1.2m at Gh2 per bag of cocoa beans.

 

Kuapa Kokoo bought 43,649 metric tonnes of cocoa for the last main and light crop seasons, valued at Gh₵151.5 million.

President of the KKFU, Ms. Ali Fatima, announced a child-led community based approach to reduce the number of children in hazardous work on cocoa farmers.

The two year ‘Kuapa Kokoo Kids’ Camp Child Labour Project’ targets 230 children as change agents in cocoa production.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Luv Fm’s blood donation drive records impressive turnout

Luv Fm’s blood donation drive on Saturday recorded one of the highest turnouts in recent times.

Several volunteers trooped to the forecourt of the station at Ayigya, Kumasi to donate pints of blood to replenish the stock at the Komfo Anokye Blood Bank.

Over 230 units of blood were collected in the regular exercise, which forms part of the station’s corporate social responsibility programmes.

Christian Oppong Mensah, Senior Blood Donor Manager, says about 50 units are needed daily to save lives at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).

He described Luv Fm’s donation campaign as timely, stating that the collected units would go a long way to serve the needs of Bank, at a time schools are on recess.

He however encouraged more voluntary donations to help save lives.

Over 80 million units of blood are donated every year, but only 38% are collected in developing countries where 82% of the global population live.

Luv Fm’s regular blood drive is organized in collaboration with the KATH and a host of corporate supporters - lead sponsor is Nestle Ideal Milk. Others are Dannex Limited (Durol), Exim-Guarantee Company, GT Bank, Voltic Ghana and IDL-KNUST.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Kuapa Kokoo’s chocolate company records drop in turnover

UK-based Divine Chocolate Limited has for the second year running recorded a decline in turnover.

The company recorded a 9.28% drop in turnover for the 2011/2012 financial year – posting £7.53m, compared to £8.2m recorded in the previous year.

The figures have dropped from £10.4m recorded in 2010, representing a cumulative 27.6% decline in total revenue for the past two years. The closure of partner shops in the UK has been attributed to sales decline.

However, Managing Director of Divine, Sophi Tranchell, says the company made a profit of £45,000, though shareholders will not receive dividend due to a slight drop in turnover.

“I am glad to say we think we have reversed that trend this year, we are seeing a small increase in turnover and a much better margin”, she told the 19^th Annual Delegates Conference of Kuapa Kokoo in Kumasi.

Divine has a five year commercial strategy which focuses on building the brands to their full commercial potential.

Sales in the USA also increased to $4.6 million but yet to break even in that market.

Sophi is confident a commercial team instituted will see to the significant growth of the US business.

Ghana’s Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union owns 45 percent shares of Divine Chocolate. All chocolate products products are made from cocoa from Kuapa, the biggest cocoa farmers’ organization in the Fairtrade system.

The farmers’ co-operative delivers more than five percent of Ghana’s cocoa and approximately one percent of the world’s cocoa.

Divine supports Kuapa Kokoo farmers in development programmes, including supply of farm inputs, construction of community amenities such as schools and community water projects as well as providing income generation venture support schemes.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Gender and youth prioritized under Dryland Systems in agriculture

Farmers and pastoralists in Africa are faced with the daily reality of integrated agro ecosystems of dealing with crops, trees, water, food, feed, value-addition and linkages to markets.

Sustaining the productivity of these agriculturists largely depends on the capacity of young people and women to facilitate their access to decision-making.

They are among vulnerable groups in local communities who are hardest hit when the environment is disturbed by degradation and climate change.

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) has therefore prioritized youth and gender in the introduction of innovations to promote agriculture in drylands across the West African Sahel region.

“It is self evident that we can’t have sustainable development without the implicit and explicit participation of women and youth”, emphasized Dr. William Payne, Director of the CGIAR Dryland Systems Program.

Young people particularly face a daunting future in dryland regions, characterized by unemployment and limited access to decision-making, natural resources, and finance. The consequences include high levels of civil unrest, instability and rural out-migration.

Women also need to be empowered to make critical decisions, especially in accessing technology, credit and forest resources.

Dr. Marten Van Ginkel, ICARDA Deputy Director-General, says focusing on women and youth is a productivity and development strategy to progress in dryland agriculture production systems.

“We don’t interpret gender as being enough; we want to look at youth but also disadvantaged groups – older and wiser women and men who have knowledge from the local regions and who can contribute”, he said.

Research partners under the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Dryland Systems for West Sahel and Dry Savanna have been working out plans to implement the integrated production systems for improving food security and livelihoods in dry areas.

Development partners, including national research institutions and universities are expected to make available relevant expertise to support implementation of the program to attain maximum impact and achieve goals in the region.

“There are megatrends throughout Africa and other parts of the world towards urbanization so we have many young people that need jobs – those jobs would have to be linked in many countries to agricultural sector because the largest part of the economy is made up of the agricultural production”, said Dr. Payne.

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Eating to live: debate on growing GM crops rife in Ghana

The first-ever genetically modified (GM) crop to be planted in Ghana is the Nitrogen Use Efficient (NUE) rice.

The Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is presently conducting the field trails in the Ashanti region.

Other crops like sweet potato, cotton and cowpea have also been approved to undergo confined field trials.

There are no commercial GM crops grown in the country presently, though advocates of GM technologies believe adoption has significant benefits for farmers, consumers and the environment.

Director-General of CSIR, Dr. Abdulai Salifu, is one of those who support the full deployment of biotechnology in Ghana. For him, biotech in agriculture will ensure access to appropriate improved crop varieties in production to achieve food security.

“I prefer to eat a product that is going to kill me in 30 years times [and I’m not even sure it will kill me], than to stay hungry and die today”, he told a group of journalists, alluding to starvation faced by populations in Africa.

The wellbeing of human societies largely depends on the food consumed by its population, hence the subject of GMOs – to grow or not to grow; to eat or not to eat – continues to engage the interest to people the world over, Ghana not an exception.

Biotechnology in agriculture involves the use of scientific methods to produce genetically modified food crops that are more pest, disease and drought resistant and with short maturity periods.

The Biosafety Law in Ghana was passed in 2011, to allow the application of biotechnology in food crop production involving GM Organisms (GMOs) to enter food production.

The law also ensures an adequate level of production in the field for safe development, transfer, handling and use of GMOs.

However skepticism is still rife in the adoption of GMOs in Ghana.

Food Sovereignty Ghana, an advocacy movement, has called on the Ghanaian government to urgently place a moratorium on the cultivation and consumption of GM foods.

Chairperson of the organization, Ali Masmadi Jehu-Appiah, argues that “GMO’s have not contributed to major yield increases, nor drought resistance, and has generated superweeds and superbugs that require increased use of even more dangerous herbicides and pesticides”.

The group has therefore called for a broad consensus regarding the negative effects of consuming genetically modified foods before allowing Ghanaians to patronize them.

But Dr. Claude Fauquet, Director of the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21^st Century (GCP21), is of the view that Ghana is over two decades late in growing GM foods.

“Cumulatively, two billion people in the world have eaten GMO food and there is not a single report of a single person being sick – having a disease or cancer or anything – coming from GMO”, he said.

Modern biotechnology is a safe scientific method with enormous benefits to improve agriculture yields, stated Professor Richard Akromah, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

He however says biotechnology use in Ghana must be approached with precautionary measures.

“We must do in-country testing under confined field trials to avoid escape and take data by our scientists for analysis to convince ourselves that it is safe and appropriate to deploy it in our agriculture”, cautioned Prof. Akromah who is also a Senior Lecturer in Plant Breeding and Genetics.

His concerns have been addressed by a member of the Ghana National Bio-safety Committee, Professor Walter Alhassan, who says there are adequate and thorough safety measures in the country to manage environmental and health risks associated with biotechnology.

Already, the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in Ghana has been engaging stakeholders, especially farmers, consumers, students, researchers and journalists to discuss issues related to modern agriculture.

Dr. Margaret Ottah Atikpo, Focal Person of OFAB-Ghana Chapter, says stakeholders should be aware of the developments surrounding the vital technology to be well informed.

“Modern Biotechnology is relatively recent scientific innovation that requires deliberate and sustained communication efforts to create awareness and understanding to consumers, legislators and policy makers”, she said.

For now, accessing GM seeds for agricultural production is a choice farmers would have to make when Ghana goes commercial in production, whilst Ghanaian consumers also make similar choice to purchase and consume GM foods.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Banana bunchy top virus spreading in West Africa

Researchers have raised alarm over the increasing spread of banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) across West Africa with more farms in Nigeria—West Africa’s second largest producer— being ravaged by the disease.

“If not checked the virus will devastate banana farms, and jeopardize the livelihoods of millions of farmers who earn their livelihoods from the crop”, says Dr. Lava Kumar, Virologist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

First discovered in 2012 by IITA in collaboration with the University of Ibadan and the Nigerian Agriculture Quarantine Service (NAQS), the disease is now widespread in Ogun State.

“Systematic studies on yield losses have not been done but empirical observations indicate 50 to 90% loss in the affected region,” Dr Kumar added, stressing. “There is a severe shortage of clean planting material. Urgent management actions are required to prevent further spread and also help farmers in the affected areas.”

Nigeria produces 2.74 million tons of banana, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, making the crop one of the important staples in the country.

Devastation by BBTV on banana fields will have a negative impact on the country’s economy, and thwart efforts towards food security.

Caused by a virus called, Banana bunchy top virus, BBTD is a serious threat to banana in Sub-Saharan Africa. The disease has been recognized in 14 countries in Africa; 13 of these are in SSA which represents a combined banana production area of 2.28 million ha, contributing 19.75 million tons of fruit per annum (FAO 2011).

The disease is known to occur in all the major banana production regions in DRC, Congo Brazzaville, Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Zambia. Whereas, disease spread is limited to a few regions in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, and Nigeria.

BBTD was first reported from the continent in 1901, however extensive spread into new production areas were observed during the last two decades.

The disease has very recently invaded the Bénin (first reported 2011) and Nigeria (first reported in 2013) in West Africa.

“The virus is also spread through an insect, banana aphid (Pentalonia nigronervosa), which is widespread in all the banana and plantain-producing areas in Nigeria and many parts of the world, said Dr Rachid Hanna, entomologist at IITA.

Infected banana plants become progressively smaller and stand more erect giving the plant a bunchy appearance. Plants infected early in their growth do not produce fruits resulting in total loss of yield, while plants infected at later stages may produce deformed fruits. The plant may eventually die, but often remains with its lateral shoots which serve as a source of infection for further spread.

The spread of the disease into new areas can initially remain undetected, complicating timely eradication work and prevention of new outbreaks. Once the disease is present in a region, it is extremely difficult to eradicate.

No durable sources of resistance have yet been identified. Eradication of infected plants and planting healthy planting material is the best available solution.

SMIDO in major financial partnership to re-settle Suame artisans

An industrial development fund is due to be launched to facilitate the establishment of a modern industrial estate for artisans in automobile repairs and maintenance in Kumasi.

The Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization (SMIDO) and the United Pension Trustee of the Vanguard Assurance Group are leading the initiative to secure a 1000 acre land to re-establish artisans at Suame Magazine.

Suame Magazine is the single largest informal sector employer in the country, with a population of over 200 thousand.

Industrial development planners say the inability of the artisans to keep pace with technological advancement in the global automobile industry threatens the survival of the centre.

The financial scheme dubbed “SMID Fund” provides a framework for the development of the new industrial complex.

“This is a self-initiative to establish a fiscal regime in Suame Magazine and in that financial regime, we’ll be able to incorporate other financial partners as a syndicate enterprise to mobilize resources and funding to enable us not only establish the industrial village but to support enterprise development at Suame Magazine”, stated Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, consultant to SMIDO.

 

The proposed SMIDO-Otumfuo Industrial Complex project would be sited at Adubinsu-kese near Kodie in the Ashanti region. It’s proximity - about 8 minutes drive – to the present light industrial cluster makes the site attractive to the artisans.

SMIDO has already secured a Gh₵500,000 facility for 100 artisans to grant them titles to the land. Donor partners, led by the Danish Government, have expressed commitment to support the project.

Managing Director of the United Pension Trustee, Seth Obiri, explained that the SMID Fund would also serves as a one-stop-shop financial cover – pensions, insurance, welfare and equity share – for the artisans.

Acting SMIDO President, Sarpong Boateng, has enjoined the artisans to refrain from politics, backbiting, divisive tendencies and rather forge ahead in unison to safeguard the future of the industry and their livelihoods. 

“It will only take fitters and their association leaders to develop the fitting industry and not governments. We cannot by our own actions and inactions destroy our future and expect government to conjure magic to fix it”, he stated. 

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh