My Ghana Electronic Desk

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE Alhaji Issahaku Saliah speaking at the Mosque The Upper West Regional Minister, Alhaji   Issahaku Saliah,   has commended Zoomlion Ghana Limited   for the good work it is doing in the Upper West Region to   promote the health of the people. He said Zoomlion and the government of Ghana are working towards the same objective of improving the sanitation situation in the country and has therefore called on residents of Wa including the Muslim community, to help keep the country clean and healthy. The Minister was speaking at the Wa Central Mosque last Friday when Zoomlion’s Public Education Campaign in Muslim communities reached that region.                                                                                                                                                        “Whenever we clean, we should have it in mind that we are cleaning for our own good, as filth brings diseases such as   cholera,” he said adding,   “we will   ensure   to g

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE Mrs. Cecelia Erzuah, Director of Finance and Administration, Ministry of Food and Agriculture addressing government officials, media and agriculturists at the launch of FAGRO 2011 in North Dakota, USA Madam Cecelia Erzuah, Director of Finance and Administration at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture says, Ghana can only move its Agriculture to a highly commercial stage if she sees it as a business, science and art. She said, farmer based organisations and associations should co-operate with each other and develop initiatives, structures, regulations and policies that will foster growth, development and prepare future generations for the challenges of feeding a growing nation. She also encouraged the Ghanaian youth to see agriculture beyond planting and harvesting but as a lucrative business sector. Madam Erzuah made these remarks following a meeting with Roger Johnson, President of the National Farmers’ Union in Washington DC, recently during the launch of

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE The Associate Director of the Department of Compact Operations, Agriculture and Rural Economy, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Damiana Astudillo, has lauded efforts by the National Food and Agricultural Show (FAGRO) to create a global and sustainable platform for agriculture in Ghana, citing it as a key ground in empowering farmers, farmer unions and creating investment opportunities. She said, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCA) set up by the US Government, seeks development that is sustainable and invests in capacities of countries like Ghana, that are proving their commitment to development through good governance, economic freedom and investment in their citizens.   Ms. Astudillo made these remarks during a visit to the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Washington DC, USA by the FAGRO / Farm Channel delegation recently. The team was led by Ms. Cecelia Erzuah, Director for Finance and Administration of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. In he

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE Mr. Sulley Adam Ghanaian farmers, farmer-based organisations and stakeholders in agriculture have been charged to initiate and implement wise economic and human resource management of the community for quality end results. Admonishing the farmers, Mr. Sulley Adam, the Planning Committee Chairman for FAGRO 2011 and the Executive Head of Retail Banking at the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), said, stakeholders should continuously increase awareness of the technological importance of agriculture and develop competent and assertive agricultural leadership to make the sector more vibrant. He made these remarks recently after an extensive tour and meetings by the FAGRO and Farm Channel delegation to the United States. “It is amazing to see how farmers operate their businesses by taking every stage of the production process into high consideration. It is a whole Enterprise. They begin having an ultimate goal to satisfy their direct consumers and t

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE President Kufuor serving school children in Kibera, Nairobi in Kenya in 2010. On Wednesday, June 22, 2011, Ghana and indeed the entire world, was greeted with news of Ghana’s immediate past President, John Agyekum Kufour, sharing honours with Brazil’s former President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as joint winner of the 2011 World Food Prize and the first Ghanaian to do so. A press release from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), which announced this, stated that the two former Presidents had the 2011 World Food Prize conferred on them during a ceremony at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, June 21, 2011. The joint winners will however be formally presented with the World Food Prize in a ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa on October 13, in conjunction with the Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium. According to the IFPRI release, former President Kufour, who is a distinguished member of the IFPRI 2020 Adv