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Stakeholders in cassava call for industrialisation of sector
Stakeholders in cassava call for industrialisation of sector
Stakeholders in the cassava value chain have called for deliberate policies of value addition and financing to industrialise the sector.
They said such a measure would not only lead to job creation and livelihood improvement but also reduce the importation of cassava products, adding that the sector had the potential to contribute to the accelerated development of the country.
The country ranks among the top five cassava producers in Africa, with at least 18 varieties of improved cassava produced in commercial quantities.
The stakeholders, who included farmers, processors, transporters, civil society organisations, buyers, consumers and financial institutions, were speaking at the maiden cassava multi-stakeholder forum in Accra yesterday.
It was organised by the Ghana Incentive-based Risk-sharing System for Agriculture Lending (GIRSAL), in partnership with the Development Bank, Ghana (DBG) and the Ghana Industrial Cassava Stakeholder Platform (GICSP).
Objectives
Among the objectives of the forum was to identify opportunities and key challenges facing the national agenda of industrialising the cassava ecosystem and the key interventions that would support solutions for an effective and efficient value chain pivoted around major, small and medium processors.
The participants also discussed issues of food security, employment creation, reduction in importation and the provision of a channel for consistent financing of specific products.
Potential
The Chairman of the GICSP, Chris Quarshie, said the high starch in cassava root was an important characteristic that made the crop a potential industrial cash crop.
He said ethanol could be derived from cassava starch, while food-grade starch could also be used for industrial purposes.
According to him, the local ethanol consuming industry used imported raw materials for production due to inadequate supply of ethanol from local starch factories because of the lack of cassava varieties that could yield more starch to feed the factories for sustainable production.
“We need to scale up the cultivation of the right variety for export and import substitution,” he said.
Citing data from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Mr Quarshie said the country produced 18 million tonnes of cassava annually, consumed about eight million tonnes and recorded 10 million tonnes of annual surplus which “is un-uprooted and left in the ground to rot”.
“We have cassava but we need to get the variety which is high in starch, high yielding and will be of interest to industries,” he said.
He said cassava had low risk profile and matured between 20 and 24 months, depending on the variety, and called for proactive policies, financing and the building of the capacity of players in the industry.
The Chief Executive Officer of Bankyekrom Limited, Sarpei Kwadey, said “every part of the country can grow cassava”.
According to him, a high percentage of cultivated cassava remained un-uprooted, and that only 0.5 per cent was processed while 70 per cent was produced by smallholder farmers.
“We need huge tracts of land to cultivate cassava on a large scale, as well as skilled labour, mechanisation and planting materials,” he added.
Financing
The Chief Executive Officer of DBG, Kwamena Duker, said the bank was focused on four key sectors – agribusiness, manufacturing, ICT and high value services.
He said cassava was the most important root crop in the country and, therefore, called for joint efforts to address the challenges faced by the cassava sector through collaboration of various stakeholders.
Harry Maguire, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Isaac Adongo
England defender Harry Maguire has been mocked by a Ghanaian MP who used a football analogy to describe the nation’s vice president.
Hon. Issac Adongo labelled the country’s Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as an “Economic Maguire”, likening his performance in the role to Maguire’s decline since joining Manchester United.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is a Ghanaian economist and former central banker who serves as the 5th Vice President of Ghana in the 4th Ghanaian Republic.
“…tackling Manchester players and giving assists to opponents. Mr Speaker, when the opponent failed to score, Maguire will score for them,” Mr Adongo said, as laughter erupted in the chamber.
“Mr Speaker, you remember in this country we also have an economic Maguire.”
Mr Isaac Adongo is a Ghanaian politician and member of the 8th Ghanian Parliament representing the Bolgatanga Central Constituency in the Upper East Region on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress. He was first elected in 2016 and he was re-elected in 2020.
Harry Maguire gets roasted in Ghanaian parliament as Economic Maguire. Credit to JoyNews. #HarryMaguire #Dr #EconomicMaguire #Ghana pic.twitter.com/Sv2M1CWHPQ
— Debrich Group Ghana, Nigeria & Europe (@debrichgroup) December 3, 2022
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has served notice to Members of Parliament and visitors to the House to comply with newly instituted security measures that require anyone seeking entry to the Chamber to be scanned before entry is granted.
Speaker Bagbin instructed that any Member of Parliament or visitor that fails to comply with the new directive should be denied entry to the Chamber effective Thursday, November 17.
The Speaker says all persons who seek to enter the Chamber must go through the newly installed scanners in the House as part of measures to beef up security.
“It is compulsory for all members including me to pass through the machines to be scanned before we enter the Chamber of Parliament”.
“All strangers who intend coming to the public gallery, or to the press gallery, or to the important visitors gallery are all to pass through the scanning machines. Starting from Thursday, anybody who is not willing to pass through those machines will definitely not be allowed to enter this Chamber.”
The beefing up of security at the House was first raised two years ago by the then Speaker, Professor Mike Oquaye who pleaded for additional security attaché to legislators.
The committee of Parliament probing allegations in a censure motion against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is expected to resume sittings today, Thursday with an appearance by the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
In a Facebook post, the North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said PIAC and GNPC are expected before the committee at 11 am today.
GNPC is the state agency responsible for the exploration, licensing, and distribution of petroleum-related activities in Ghana, while PIAC is an independent statutory body mandated to promote transparency and accountability in the management of petroleum revenue in Ghana.
This comes after proponents of the motion, the Minority, were heard on their grounds for their allegations of conflict of interest and financial recklessness levelled against the Finance Minister for censure against him.
The Minority, represented by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu and, Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, cited PIAC reports from 2019 to 2022 and the Petroleum Management Act as some of the basis for their allegations against the Mr. Ofori-Atta.
Mr. Ofori-Atta, will on Friday be expected to put up a defence to the Minority’s push for a vote of censure against him.
He had requested time to prepare based on the evidence tendered to the committee by the Minority.
The evidence included IMF staff reports from 2018 to 2021, fiscal data from the Ministry of Finance, Budget statements from 2019 to 2022, mid-year budget statements from 2019 to 2022 and the Auditor General reports from 2018 to 2020.
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