Plans to reduce maize component in poultry feed underway
Parliament approves 67 million dollar loan
for AgSSIP.
Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy visits Amansie
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 July 2001
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) in conjunction with the Animal Research Institute and the country’s universities are researching into an alternative way of formulating poultry feed with reduced maize component.
A number of food ingredients especially cassava, which is a promising substitute for maize in poultry and pig feeds is been vigorously promoted by the Ministry under the Roots and Tuber Improvement Project.
Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), Minister of MOFA said this in an answer to a question in Parliament on Tuesday posed by Dr Alfred Sugri Tia, NDC-Nalerigu.
Dr Tia asked the Minister what steps his Ministry was taking to assist private companies to import yellow maize for poultry and livestock farming to reduce the pressure on white maize.
Major Quashigah said the Agricultural Development Bank was prepared to assist the farmers to procure the maize provided they come up with appropriate guarantee for repayment.
He said the National Poultry Farmers Association, which normally imports yellow maize for poultry farmers approached MOFA for assistance to import 40,000 metric tons of yellow maize for the poultry industry.
The Minister said MOFA approached ADB to provide the association with a short-term loan to import the maize but the bank complained of the inability of the association to settle in full 37 billion cedis loan granted to them recently for maize import.
Major Quashigah said the Ministry has endorsed and facilitated the importation of yellow maize so as to reduce the pressure on white maize meant for human consumption. A few companies involved in poultry feed manufacturing have also imported yellow maize.
He said MOFA was concerned about the low domestic meat production and recognises the role of the poultry industry in improving the animal protein intake of the people.
The Ministry, therefore, met poultry producers and major consumers from all over the country in June this year to discuss the problems of the industry.
Among the many issues raised by the stakeholders was the shortage and high price of maize, a major component in poultry feed.
Major Quashigah said the domestic production of maize last year was estimated at over one million metric tones out of which the poultry industry consumes about 30 per cent.
Efforts were being made by MOFA to mop up the maize currently in the system to make it more accessible and affordable to the people.
"The country normally experiences short supply of maize with resultant hike in prices from May to July each year, which is partially attributed to our inability to store adequate maize during the bumper harvest for later use as was done in the past by the Food Distribution Corporation".
Mr Brandford Adu, NPP-Okere asked the Minister what steps were being taken to cultivate yellow maize in the country.
Major Quashigah said the Ministry was looking for suitable varieties of yellow maize, which would be adaptable to the weather conditions in the country.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 19 July 2001
Parliament on Wednesday approved a Development Credit Agreement between Ghana and the International Development Association (IDA) for five million dollars to finance Community Based Poverty Reduction Projects.
It was approved with 120 votes for, nine against and one abstention.
Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance moved for the approval of loan, which had to be repackaged because the previous Parliament rejected it.
The loan has a grace period of 10 years, repayable in 30 years with a commitment charge of 0.50 per cent and service charge of 0.75 per cent, both of which shall be payable semi-annually on August 1 and February 1 each year.
The project is aimed at testing various approaches and mechanisms for delivering poverty reduction interventions to marginalised groups, to assist street children and to support community nutrition and food security programmes.
It would also be used in testing and building capacity at national and district levels to monitor and evaluate poverty reduction programmes.
Mr Osafo-Maafo said the NPP has re-negotiated the loan and reduced the consultancy charge from 40 per cent to 10 per cent thus leaving a big chunk for activities that would direct impact on the lives of the people.
The re-introduction of the loan gave the Minority the opportunity to lash at the NPP government for going for the loan they had kicked against when that party was in the opposition.
Mr Moses Asaga, NDC-Nabdam and Minority Spokesman on Finance, in seconding the motion expressed surprise that the very loan that Mr Osafo-Maafo, Dr Kofi Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry and other NPP Members of Parliament had kicked against was now found to be useful to be contracted.
Mr Doe Adzaho, Minority Chief Whip, supporting the motion said Dr Apraku had told the previous Parliament that there was no need for a consultant to study poverty in the country and that he Apraku had presented a paper on poverty reduction at a Conference in Berlin.
Mr Adzaho questioned the need for the government to allocate 10 per cent of the loan to consultancy, which Dr Apraku could offer free.
Amidst laughter, Mr Adzaho said, "if Dr Apraku would not do the consultancy free-of-charge then he should be charged for causing financial loss to the state".
Dr Kwabena Adjei (NDC Biakoye) said now that the NPP was at the other side of the House they could now see clearly and that the loan was being said to be re-packaged to suit conditions.
He added, "when you are on this side (opposition) then it is not well packaged but at the other side it is necessary and neatly packaged".
"We are not going to behave the way you did when you were in opposition because we understand the situation and we will co-operate with you," Dr Adjei said.
Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, NDC-Kumbungu quoting the contributions of the then opposition extensively from the Hansard when the loan was first debated in Parliament last year, commended the NPP for learning fast and and contracting new loans.
He said the NPP had said that it was not necessary to take a loan to study poverty and that now that they have found it necessary to take the loan the party was doing well.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah, the Deputy Majority Leader, said the Minority was doing their work well and that they were doing exactly what was expected of them, adding, "we have repackaged the loan to save about 1.5 million dollars, which would be used directly on poverty reduction"
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Accra (Greater Accra) 19 July 2001
All the 123 members present in Parliament on Wednesday approved a loan agreement between the government and the African Development Fund for an amount of 13.32 million dollars for the implementation of a Cashew Development Project.
The agreement was laid before Parliament and referred to the Finance Committee for its consideration and report in pursuant to Article 171 (1) of the Standing Orders.
The project is to support the Government's initiatives to accelerate the pace of agricultural growth by promoting the expansion of cashew cultivation in high potential areas and for the processing of the kernels and nuts.
Mr Eugene Atta Agyepong, Vice Chairman of the Committee, said members observed that the loan was highly concessional with a grant element of 86.3 per cent but expressed concern about the role the Agricultural Development Bank was going to play in the disbursement of the funds to farmers.
He said the members also observed that the project was expected to benefit an estimated 20,000 small-scale cashew producer groups including potential owners of 32 newly established micro-processing units for cashew.
The Committee recommended that an amount of 510,922 dollars be granted as tax and duty exemptions on the equipment and other materials to be imported for the project.
Contributing to the debate on the motion, Alhaji Seidu Amadu, NDC-Yapei/Kusawgu criticised the over reliance on cocoa as the main export crop to the neglect of cashew, coffee and rubber that have great potentials.
He said cashew cultivation has never received state support and farmers had been compelled to abandon their farms, some of which were destroyed by bush fire, because of lack of market for their produce.
Alhaji Amadu called on the MOFA to revamp the Bole Research Station and extend its mandate to cover other crops in addition to sheanuts.
Alhaji Abdulai Salifu, NDC-Tolon said it was necessary to locate the project management unit at the location of the projects instead of Accra.
Mr Francis Aggrey Agbotse, NDC-Ho West said there were vast areas in the Ho
District, which were suitable for cashew cultivation and called on the project to extend its activities to the area.
He suggested to the project to ensure that value is added to the produce before export.
Mr Norbert Awulley, NDC-Builsa South, said the tendency of always siting project units at the national headquarters has been of disservice to projects and led to the collapse of many of them.
He said there was the need for the loan to be monitored and put into serious cashew cultivation and not just for luxuries.
Mr Amos Lawerh Buertey, NDC-Ada, called for the withdrawal of the report by the Committee, since according to him, there were other potential production areas for cashew cultivation that it did not cover.
Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, NDC-Wenchi West, said as a member of the negotiating team for the loan, the idea was to get compact production areas to be supported to allow for effective management and utilisation of resources.
He said the loan has more benefits to the farmer since about 70 per cent would directly be for their use. These include direct disbursement of the loans, establishment of seed farms and supply of farm implements as well as the construction of feeder roads.
The loan has an interest rate of one per cent from the 11th to the 20th year and goes up to two per cent from the 21st to the 50th year. It has a grace period of 10 years, repayable in 40 years, a service charge of 0.75 per cent and a commitment charge of 0.50 per cent on the unused amount.
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Parliament approves 67 million dollar loan
for AgSSIP.
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 July 2001
Parliament on Wednesday approved a 67 million dollar loan contracted by the government from the International Development Association (IDA) to finance part of the Agricultural Services Sub-sector Investment Project (AgSSIP).
All the 126 members voted for the loan, which has repayment period of 30 years, a grace period of 10 years with a service charge of 0.75 per cent per.
Mr Eugene Atta Agyepong, Vice Chairman, Finance Committee, said the loan was part of a 123 million dollar package to be co-financed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), European Union (EU), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
He said the government would make up for a shortfall of 5.23 million dollars through the provision of tax rebates, exemptions, administrative and staff cost.
The AgSSIP, which has been designed in three phases, would support all public agricultural services managed by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
Mr Agyepong said the programme seeks to reform and strengthen agricultural technology generation and diffusion by improving the agricultural research and extension system.
It would involve, "institutional reform and strengthening of MOFA with emphasis on decentralisation and providing quality services to agriculture".
He said the programme would help develop farmer-based organisations to increase the provision of services to farmers and strengthen agricultural education and training with emphasis on training colleges and farm institutes.
Mr Moses Asaga, NDC-Nabdam, asked that others, who are funding the project, should be made to commit themselves so that it does not fail.
He cautioned the government on "unregulated borrowing since the HIPC (Highly Indebted Poor Countries) initiative may not affect loans contracted from 2000 onwards".
Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance, on point of order, described Mr Asaga's assertion as speculative since the government was yet to receive details on the cut-off point.
Mr Asaga said: "Put a break on the number of loans you are acquiring. You are borrowing too much."
Mrs Amma Benyiwa Doe, NDC-Gomoa West, said: " It is heart warming that this government is also borrowing."
She said Ghanaians have now realised that the NDC government borrowed for good purposes and that "it was not everything that the NDC did that was bad."
Major Courage Quashiega (rtd), Minister, MOFA, said unlike previous arrangements, more than 50 per cent of the loan would go into real agricultural work.
He said loans would be repackaged into inputs for farmers and they would be made to repay with their produce.
The Minister said a nucleus out-grower system that would spin around well- established farmers would guarantee loans and other inputs for small-scale farmers.
Mr Maafo said that the EU has been chosen as the lead institution in the funding and implementation of the programme.
He said the government was still implementing the NDC government's loan interest threshold of 35 per cent.
The Minister assured members that the loans being contracted would be put to good use and that by the time they were due for repayment, the economy would have expanded enough to make loans negligible.
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Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and
Energy visits Amansie
Manso-Nkwanta (Ashanti Region) 19 July 2001
The Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy has visited some communities in the Amansie West District of Ashanti to assess at first hand work on the extension of electricity there.
The Committee visit arose from a statement made in Parliament by Mr Stephen Obuor Karikari, Member of Parliament for Amansie West, that work on the connection of some communities in his constituency to national grid had stopped.
The communities visited included Essuowin, Ahwerewa, Mpatuam, Pakyi Number One, Pakyi Number Two, Agroyesum, Manso-Atwere and Manso-Suntreso.
At a meeting with chiefs, opinion leaders and some of the contractors engaged on the project, Mr Boadi Mensah, Chairman of the Committee, said work on the projects would be completed on schedule and asked them not to entertain any fears.
Mr Ben Kwakye Addofo, District Chief Executive, appealed to the Ministry of Energy to consider connecting communities that were near the high-tension lines to the national grid.
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