My Ghana Electronic Desk

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE The old note The Bank of Ghana (BoG), has announced that the old GH¢50 bank notes are no longer legal tender and so cannot be exchanged for goods and services rendered or in any transaction. In a press release issued today, BoG informed all banks and the general public that “the old GH¢50 banknotes ceased to be legal tender after SEPTEMBER 30, 2012, and should therefore not be issued to members of the public. The release says the old GH¢50 banknotes will however continue to be exchanged at all banks and the Bank of Ghana.  BoG has therefore directed all banks in Ghana to accept the old GH¢50 banknotes for exchange or deposit from the general public after authentication. The new note It says thereafter all banks should endeavour to lodge the old GH¢50 banknotes with the Bank of Ghana and should ensure that lodgements of the old series are segregated from the upgraded series. The release does not say though, when receipt of the old notes will

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE Rice is the staple food for billions of the world's population The Government of Ghana ,Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), food security sector partners, and    Ghanaian farmers are marking World Food Day today,   October 16, 2012 at   Bewadzi in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region. This year’s celebration is being held under the theme  “ Agricultural cooperatives: key to feeding the world”, to   highlight the many, concrete ways in which agricultural cooperatives and producer organisations help to provide food security, generate employment, and reduce poverty. In his message for the observance of this year’s event, Dr.   José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General, pays special tribute to cooperatives for working against hunger and overcoming market and policy constraints, by providing their members access to a range of assets and services. For his part, Mr. Musa Saihou Mbenga

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE The just released 2012 Global Hunger Index report titled “The Challenge of Hunger: Ensuring Sustainable Food Security under Land, Water, and Energy Stresses”, has stated that two of the three countries with extremely alarming levels are Burundi and Eritrea in Sub-Saharan Africa, while the third is Haiti. South Asia, it says,  is the other region that continues to suffer from the highest levels of hunger, which on a global scale remains serious with 20 countries having levels of hunger that are “alarming” or “extremely alarming.”  According to the report released in Washington, D.C. for the seventh year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe, a non-governmental aid organisation based  in Germany and Concern Worldwide, an international NGO dedicated to the reduction of suffering and the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries, unsustainable use of land, water, and energy is threateni