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Millennium Development AuthorityQuarterly Newsletter | Eighth Edition June, 2011The Success of an Output ProcessingFBO: Sekyere East Oil MillsMadam Abena NyarkoGHc300 they received after the training that transformed theSekyere East Oil Mills FBO.Madam Abena Nyarko, 46, is a shy-looking mother of six.Her shy looks notwithstanding, she is the Chairperson of theSekyere East Oil Mills, a Farmer Based Organisation of PalmOil processors, based in the Sekyere East District of the AframBasin Zone (AfBZ). This FBO is a mixed group of men andwomen who were originally peasant farmers.According to Madam Abena Nyarko, the members of thecommunity came together some twenty years ago and decidedto move from farming into processing palm fruits into palmoil. During this period, the FBO has encountered a numberof challenges including infrequent availability of palm fruits,no access to credit, non-availability of appropriate machineryand lack of adequate land for their operations. Their biggestchallenge however was their poor knowledge of basicbusiness principles which impacted negatively on theoperations of the FBO.“We were just buying the fruit in little bits from all parts ofthe District with no business plan and no idea of purchasingand supply, stock control and identifying markets beforeproducing the palm oil” Madam Abena Nyarko recounted.“We had no standard procedures of working and no knowledgeof storage and planned maintenance of our plant andequipment. This affected the quality of the palm fruits andconsequently the quality of the palm oil produced”, MadamNyarko added.Three years ago, the Sekyere East Oil Mills heard about thearrival of MiDA in their District and applied to participate inthe Farmer and Enterprise Training Scheme, which was acomponent of the Agriculture Project.“We benefited from six weeks of training in various aspectsof farming and enterprise management, including themanagement of supply, processing and marketing ofagricultural produce and products”Opanin Appiah Kubi, 54,Organiser of the FBO chipped in and incidentally is thehusband of Auntie Abena Nyarko, explained that it waslargely the practical business management skills and theOpanin Appiah KubiOpanin Appiah Kubi stated that prior to joining the MiDAProject, the FBO was using a dilapidated processing machinewhich could barely manage 6 tons of palm fruit on a goodday. Upon successfully completing MiDA’s TrainingProgramme, each member of the FBO was given a GHc300grant as a ‘Starter Pack”. Starter packs were a package ofitems, including cash, which were given to successful traineesto get them started. It was intended to facilitate the readyapplication of the new skills and techniques which traineeshad been exposed to. Since the processing plant was one ofthe biggest challenges confronting the FBO, they decided tolodge their grants in their account at the bank and arrangeto purchase a new processing machine. In the middle of2010, the FBO took delivery of a new processing plant andtheir production increased from 6 tons per day to 10 tonsper day.The increased profitability of their operations has attractedmore members, increasing their membership to 70. Indeed,because of the lack of room in their operational area, theyhave been compelled to discourage new members until theyrelocate to a larger piece of land two kilometers up theEffiduase-Seniagya road. Opanin Appiah Kubi revealed thatout of their share of the profits accruing to the FBO, thecouple had purchased their own processing machine whichthey were yet to install in another part of the District.10
Quarterly Newsletter | Eighth Edition June, 2011Palm Oil Processing MillMillennium Development AuthoritySpeaking to Opanin Daniel Kwakye, 53, Plant Technician, he mentioned thatlimited physical space and the flood-prone nature of their present location weresome of the biggest headaches facing the FBO.He revealed that every rainy season,they were compelled to suspend operations on a number of days when the nearbystream overflows its banks. He was hopeful that their imminent move to theirnew location would be a major boost to their operations and consequently anotherhike in their personal incomes.“In fact the coming of MiDA was a heaven sent. Apart from teaching us newbusiness methods and practices, we have been empowered financially to purchasea new processing mill which has substantially boosted our production and theprofitability of our business” Madam Nyarko stated happily. “Next time you visitus, we would have moved to our new location and our business would even bemore successful than today” she concluded.Gender Sensitization TrainingAs part of efforts to reduce poverty through economicdevelopment, the Millennium Development Authorityorganized a Gender Sensitization Training Workshop on the3rd of June, 2011 at the SNV Conference Hall in Accra forConsultants working in the Land Tenure Facilitation Activity.The gender component is to assess the potential impact onSystematic Land Titling and Registration Activity.The Program’s essence of the training was to sensitize thethree groups of consultants; Sensitization and Gender,Alternative Dispute Resolution and Inventory and Surveying,so that they become more gender sensitive in their approachto work in the various communities.The One-day Training Workshop, was led by Capacity Blooma Sensitization and Gender Consultant for the Land ActivityProject. Participants were educated on gender-related issuescommon to most typical Ghanaian communities. Socioculturalbeliefs and discriminatory practices that the influencegender relations and resource allocation within householdsand communities thus acting as barriers and preventingwomen from accessing land and tenure security. At the endof the One-day event, participants were tasked to developinnovative approaches to their work that were gendersensitive.11
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