Ghana gets approval for Country Programme
Accra Bourse in marginal gains
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 November 2001 - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has approved a 15.3 million-dollar Ghana Country Programme to provide 482,000 Ghanaians with food aid through 2005, a statement from the WFP said on Wednesday.
Under the Country Programme, the WFP would supply 35,000 tonnes of food over the next four years to support the government's poverty reduction activities, the statement explained.
Three other basic activities involving community health and nutrition education, girls' education and savannah resource management would also be covered under the programme, which is linked to other UN Agencies and non-governmental organisations.
It said in addition to the overall country programme 4.7 million dollars would also be earmarked for HIV/AIDS programmes. "The people of Ghana have inadequate access to basic education and health nor do all have the opportunity to make a living," the statement quoted Eva Hodell, Country Director, WFP Ghana as saying.
"This has not only arrested the individual's ability to make ends meet at the most basic level but it has also hampered the country's development."
A most recent WFP study showed that 45 per cent of children in Ghana's three northern regions were underweight and malnutrition among women was a major health problem.
"Our aim is to help poor and hungry families to take charge of their lives, enabling them to stand on their own two feet against poverty," Hodell said.
In the first of the three projects, WFP food would serve as a nutritional supplement to malnourished pre-school children attending community health and nutrition centres.
The Agency would also use food as an incentive to expectant and nourishing mothers to attend health and nutrition education classes.
In the northern savannah rural areas only 67 per cent of boys and 62 per cent of girls are enrolled in primary school, rates which are substantially below the national average.
Through the WFP girls' education project, some 29,600 female pupils would be offered a monthly take-home ration of cereals and oil in return for attending school.
"This food will act as an incentive for families to enrol their girls in primary school and to maintain regular attendance," said Hodell.
"Take-home rations have proved an extremely effective way of ensuring attendance, and therefore improving performance."
Recent studies indicated that about 58 per cent of farmers do not have enough food to feed their families, because of recurrent drought, reduced soil fertility and high population growth.
Concentrated mainly in the northern regions, these families endure the worst food shortages between March and August each year.
GRi../
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 November 2001 - The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) All-Share Index, the main market indicator, was up 0.43 points in mid-week trading on Wednesday to finish 957.47 points after it slumped under heavy bearish sentiments on Monday.
Generally the market continued to be dull although shares traded were up at 52,100 shares from 41,600 shares on Monday. There was only one price change. Ghana Commercial Bank made five cedis at 1,560 cedis.
Market capitalisation went down to close at 3,906.98 billion cedis from 3,906.15 at the previous close. Below are the closing prices of the listed equities in cedis:
ABL 320
AGC 18,800
ALW 4,300
BAT 627
CFAO 60
EIC 3,005
FML 950
GBL 1,000
GCB 1,560 +5
GGL 900
HFC 952
MGL 241
MLC 145
MOGL 18,001
PAF 800
PBC 450
PZ 1,005
SCB 20,500
SPPC 340
SSB 2,300
UNIL 2,300
CMLT 430
GRi../
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