Awutu-Bawjiase (Central Region)
Emmanuel Osei, Chairman of the Board of
Directors announced this at an emergency meeting with some board members and
management staff of the bank at Awutu-Bawjiase on
Monday after the last batch of beneficiaries had been paid their loans of
¢500,000 each.
According to Osei, the bank had initiated
a number of supportive programmes to raise the socio-economic lives of the
people in the area. He said the bank was also organising quarterly orientation
courses for the staff to equip them with new banking techniques.
Samuel K. Dodd, a member of the Board of
Directors and National President of the Ayensu Starch
Company Cassava Growers Association commended the women for their enthusiasm
and commitment to the work and advised them to maintain the spirit to earn themselves more income and also to ensure the success of the
company's objectives.
Augustus Yankey,
Manager, briefed the meeting on efforts the first batch of the loan recipients
were making to repay them. K. Oppey-Abbey, also a
board member stressed the need for the farmers to involve their teenage
daughters, especially the jobless ones in the cassava project to enable them to
earn a decent living.
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The Workshop is under the theme:
"Enhancing Farmers' Income Through the Processing
of Cocoa By-Products," with the objective of discussing the results of the
Cocoa By-Products Project in
The source however, noted that it was
important not to just flood the market through increased production only to
become "first producer". "We must be looking at the impact that
this would have on our hardworking farmers, who invariably may lose the right
prices that they otherwise should have received."
Government last October increased the
producer price to 8.5 million cedis per tonne
(631,259 cedis per bag) ¢6.2m per tonne (387,500 cedis per bag).
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Kwame Sarpong, Chief
Executive of COCOBOD, told participants at the International Workshop on the Utilization
of Cocoa By-Products in
He said government was working in tandem
with the Cocoa Sector Development Strategy Document, which had been accepted by
Sarpong said before the beginning of the 2003 -
2004 season the Producer Price Review Committee made
up of representatives from farmers' associations, government, COCOBOD,
Universities and other stakeholders would meet to deliberate on a new producer
price that would help to attain the target of 69 per cent of the projected FOB
price.
At present the government is paying just
above 68 per cent of the FOB price. Sarpong said when
the present government came into power the producer price of cocoa was
¢3,475,000 per tonne or ¢217,187 per bag and later increased it to 3,872,000 in
May 2001.
In this regard, farmers were paid a bonus of
12,000 cedis per bag between May and September 2001.
"Again the price was increased to 4,384,000 cedis
per tonne, that is 274,000 cedis
per bag in October 2001 as a result of the positive price developments on the
world market."
The Chief Executive said the government on
increasing the price to ¢8.5m, made provision for the payment of a bonus of
¢500,000 per tonne to enable it to maintain the FOB target of 68 per cent. He
said the current price reflected a significant improvement in the cocoa
farmers' income.
"But this cannot serve as a
justification for us to rest on our oars," adding; "any opportunity
to add to the improved lot of the farmer must be exploited." He said when
cocoa by-products were commercialised the farmers would begin to receive supplementary
income from cocoa by-products or wastes that they have hitherto thrown away.
Sarpong noted that only 37 per cent benefit was
derived from a pod of cocoa with the remaining 63 per cent of cocoa products
going to waste. He said about 800,000 tonnes of cocoa by-product go to waste.
Sarpong noted that COCOBOD had not only followed
the development of the
The Project, which cost $1.4m, is in
consonance with the Common Fund for Commodities and the International Cocoa
Organisation (ICCO). ICCO is the supervisory body while the CRIG is the
project-executing agency. The Project started with the production of cocoa gin,
cocoa pectin, animal feed and soft soap, known locally as alata
samina from cocoa pod ash.
Sarpong said at present 12 products had been
derived by CRIG under the Pilot Plants Project Programme ready for
commercialisation. They are cocoa butter toilet soap, cocoa butter body pomade,
cocoa jam and marmalade, cocoa jelly, cocoa gin and cocoa brandy.
The rest are cocoa vinegar, cocoa wine,
animal feed, soft soap, liquid soap and cocoa soft drink. Hope Sona Ebai, Secretary-General of
the Cocoa Producers' Alliance (COPA) expressed the Alliances' gratitude to CRIG
and the government, ICCO and CFC for financing and the project.
He called for more funding for continuing
research towards more alternative uses of cocoa and its by-products to make
farmers to derive maximum benefit from their activities.
Joseph Henry Mensah,
Senior Minister, who chaired the function, said it was sad that
60 years after the introduction of cocoa into
He also urged huge multinationals such as
Nestle, Unilever and Cadbury to take up the commercialisation of some of the
research findings by CRIG and put them on the international market.
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SCB gained ¢3,600 at ¢52,000 after selling
only 400 shares. The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) All-Share Index leaped by 35.98
points at 2,196.40 points while change for the year was 57.41 per cent.
Total shares traded were mere 24,900 from
240,000 with only six of the 24 listed equities making sales. There were only
three price changes, all positive. SCB was ¢3,600 richer at ¢52,000, Guinness
Ghana Limited was ¢200 better ¢3,500 and Ghana Commercial Bank ended four cedis better at ¢6,326.
Market capitalisation improved at 8,923.95
billion cedis from ¢8,836.46bn. The following are the
last prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 460
AGC 28,600
ALW 4,000
BAT 1,914
CFAO 73
CPC
630
EIC 6,000
FML 2,510
GBL 552
GCB 6,326 +4
GGL 3,500 +200
HFC 2,600
MGL 268
MLC 467
MOGL 21,505
PAF
750
PBC 530
PZ 2,057
SCB 52,000 +3,600
SPPC 390
SSB 7,305
SWL 285
TBL 6,000
UNIL 7,307
CMLT 460
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He said such an assessment would
demonstrate the practical extent of the benefits to all stakeholders within the
industry from the farming community through the industrialists, the merchants,
the consumers and government. President Kufuor was
opening a three-day International Workshop on the Utilisation of Cocoa
By-Products in
The Workshop was jointly organised by the
Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) and
the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC). Under the theme: "Enhancing
Farmers' Incomes Through the Processing of Cocoa
By-Products" the workshop would discuss the results of the Cocoa
By-Products Project in
The Pilot Plant Project began at the Cocoa
Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) at Akim Tafo in 1992 among other things to develop and transfer
technology for the commercial production of cocoa by-products and
non-traditional products from cocoa.
Others were to promote farm level
production and local use of the by-products, promote the use of cocoa butter
for the production of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, soap and also identify and
develop by-products and new products from cocoa and other related crops such as
sheanuts and coffee.
President Kufuor
said such an evaluation, should set the pace for the needed diversification
within the industry to enhance maximum returns from cocoa. He said the bonus to
the economy would also be in employment generation, income growth and
re-distribution and industrialisation.
President Kufuor
said government would expect from the workshop inputs that would enhance its
policy objectives for the cocoa and manufacturing sectors of the economy.
On the workshop, President Kufuor said the close interaction and cross-fertilisation
of ideas generated through such dialogues should expose to the full, the many
unexploited opportunities existing in the various sectors of the economy.
"This multi-sectoral approach should produce new
strategies to invigorate productive activities for the betterment of the
industry", he said.
Joseph Henry Mensah,
Senior Minister, who chaired the function, said there was the need for
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Farmers threaten to
stop Inland Port Project
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 15 July 2003 - About 100 farmers who lost their farms following the acquisition of the land for the Boankra Inland Port project have threatened to violently stop the implementation of the project, citing, cheating in compensation payments made to them by the Ghana Shippers Council (GSC).
They warned that they would chase out
anybody who would construct any structure on the lands. The farmers led by Nana
Yaa Frimpomaa of Boankra, gave the warning when she and some of the farmers
called at the
They alleged that while those who had food
crops, oil-palm plantation and other cash crops on the land received paltry
sums ranging from ¢31,000 to ¢4m, "ghost and faceless farmers" who
neither had farms nor owned any parcel of the acquired area were paid between
¢14m and ¢20m.
They said they had already sought audience
with the Ashanti Regional Minister, Sampson Kwaku Boafo on the matter. Again, a team of investigators from
the police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters had been to Boankra following their petition to the President.
They, however, expressed misgivings about
the manner the investigators were handling the matter. "We find it a bit
odd that the police officers should quietly invite the very people who we
insist do not qualify to be paid compensation and ask them to show the location
of their farms without our notice and presence."
They said since they were the people who
operated on the land they were in a better position to tell the real farmers
and owners of farmlands in the area by graphically showing common farm
boundaries and expose the fraudsters.
''In the circumstances we have every
reason to be suspicious of the outcome of the investigations'', they said.
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Currency Buying Selling
U.S. Dollar 8,603.00 8,763.00
Pound
Swiss Franc 6,238.61 6,354.36
Canadian Dollar 6,240.56 6,354.36
Danish Kroner 1,303.13 1,327.41
Japanese Yen 73.18 74.53
South African
Euro 9,691.95 9,869.53
CFA Franc 14.78 15.05
Naira 68.14 69.41
ECOWAS WAUA 12,380.82
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She made this known during interactions
between members of the Chamber and journalists in
The minimal portions that were returned to
the district assemblies were not used for visible development projects but
rather for recurrent expenditure. She said the chamber was also active in its
support for the Presidential Special Initiative (PSI) on forestry. The
companies, she said, had donated over 20,000 seedlings and are ready to direct
more resources to help improve forest reserves.
"We are committed to providing
support for the reforestation of degraded forests, in addition to reclaiming
mined-out areas." Mrs Wereko-Brobby said out of
the country's land area of 240,000 square kilometres, 31,273 square kilometres
or 13 percent has been granted to large scale mines for reconnaissance,
prospecting and active mining.
Indeed the actual mining operations in the country cover only 4,304 square kilometres or less than two percent. She said, that notwithstanding, the chamber was much concerned about the preservation and sustainable management of the environment.
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