Friday, 24th June, 2022

Page 10
Two hundred and
fifty female rice
growers from top
producing areas in
the Volta Region have
benefitted from free portable
rice harvesters.
They were among 450 rice
farmers from 15 farmer-based
organizations (FBO) that were
selected from six growing
districts in the Region.
The Government’s
Modernising Agriculture in
Ghana (MAG) programme,
which is being supported by
the Canadian Government,
acquired some 1,000 units of the
Business
handheld harvesters, 82 of which
were handed over to the FBOs in
the Region.
The machines are
manoeuvrable, user friendly, and
designed to enable harvesting
in fields not engineered and
also have accessories for
reconfiguration into grassweeding
tools.
Mr Sylvester Owusu,
Regional Agriculture Engineer,
who handed over the harvesters,
said it was a novel initiative
towards reducing the labour
intensity of rice farming
through the use of modern
tailor-made tools.
DAILY ANALYST Friday, 24th June, 2022
Female rice farmers to access
free portable harvesters
“Farmers are always
complaining about labour
and they have limited tools.
Undeveloped fields cannot take
combine harvesters and so small
motorization would be useful,”
he said.
He said reliance on combine
harvesters, most of which
arrived from Tamale, was a
major cause of post-harvest
losses in the rice-growing sector.
Mr Owusu said the region
remained the leading producer
of rice by volumes, thanks to
Government’s interventions,
adding that the Ministry, as part
of its Special Rice Initiative,
was focusing on the provision
of farming machinery, farmland
development, and access to
quality processing equipment.
He said most subsistence
rice farming relied on sickles
and other traditional tools while
labour remained unreliable and
that the equipment, under the
watch of the district agriculture
offices, would help increase
productivity and minimize postharvest
losses.
Mrs Sandra Ofori, Hohoe
Municipal Director of
Agriculture, said the portable
harvesters would take care of
about 50 to 70 per cent of rice
farm labour.
“Even young women can
handle it,” she said, adding that
the Municipal Office would
continue to offer the needed skill
enhancement for growers.”
She expressed the hope that
other plans and interventions by
the Ministry would be realized
soon.
The Director said the right
farming tools and interventions
would encourage more
young men and women into
agriculture.
The 15 FBO were selected
from the Ketu North, Ho
Municipal, South Tongu,
Afadzato South, Ho West
and the Hohoe Districts and
Municipalities, with a combined
total of about 1,000 acres under
cultivation.
Richard Mawutor, a
beneficiary rice farmer, said the
portable harvester, aside from
helping harvest more crops,
would help ease dependence
on weed killers and appealed to
stakeholders to help engineer
farms for proper mechanization
and expansion.
The MAG programme seeks
to help realize a more modern,
equitable and sustainable
agricultural sector, contributing
towards food security through
the increased adoption of
relevant technologies in
production.
The programme is also
towards encouraging private
sector investment in the
agro sector and boosting the
participation of women.
Women’s income increase by 32%
through Agric intervention
The income level of
women farmers in
five regions have
increased through
an intervention
programme by the German
Association of Rural Women
(dlv).
Additionally, the volume
of sales of parboiled rice of the
women groups increased from 17
per cent to 27 per cent following
the adoption of new techniques
in processing the rice.
There has also been
improvement of food security
and reduction of malnutrition
among over 6,000 people
through the promotion of
diversified and healthy diets for
better and balanced nutrition
including locally available foods
and home gardening.
This was disclosed by
Madam Sophie Weissenhorn,
Project Manager, German
Association of Rural Women, at
a ceremony to officially mark
the end of the six-year project,
which benefited five regions in
Ghana.
The regions are Volta, Oti,
Bono East, Northern, and Greater
Accra. Beneficiaries received
training in rice processing/
business development, nutrition
education/cultivation of home
gardens and organisational
development in advocacy for
smallholder women farmers.
In an interview with the
Ghana News Agency, Madam
Weissenhorn described the
intervention as “successful”
adding that the rice intervention
area saw the volume of sales
increased from 17 per cent to 27
per cent, while income levels of
women farmers also increased
from 21 per cent to 32 per cent.
Mad Petra Bentkämper,
President, (dlv), also said:
“Together we have come a long
and important way for women in
Ghana and in Germany, always
with respect and appreciation.
“We have achieved successes
that motivate us. Hopefully,
the rural women in Ghana will
also keep up the good work
to bring us closer to an equal
participation in the agriculture,
food and political sector,” she
added.
On choosing Ghana for
the project, she said: “The
first question was: with
which country do we want to
collaborate? And luckily, we
decided for Ghana – a nation that
is politically stable and with a
lot of potential!”
She asked the Ministry
and stakeholders including the
Farmer Organisation Network
Ghana (FONG), and Development
Action Association (DAA) who
supported the implementation
of the programme.
Madam Paulina Addy,
Director, Women in Agricultural
Development Directorate
(WIAD), Ministry of Food and
Agriculture (MoFA) pledged that
the Ministry would collaborate
with stakeholders to ensure
continuity of the programme.
She said: “The intervention
is transforming lives at the rural
level, and we hope to sustain it.”
Sharing her experience
with GNA, Mad Paulina Adade,
a beneficiary, said: “Before the
programme, we didn’t know
anything about rice parboiling,
but dlv trained us and now
we have our rice in some
supermarkets.”
She added that: “I have
my own brand, and some of
the people I’ve trained have
also started their own brands.
Because of the packaging, a lot
of people are patronising our
products.”
GSA sensitizes exporters
on advantages of AFCFTA
The Ghana Shippers
Authority has
organized a
sensitisation
workshop for members
of the Eastern Regional Shippers
Committee (ERSC) on how
to take full advantage of the
African Continental Free Trade
Area (AFCFTA).
The members were taken
through the requirements
for registration and approved
exportable products under
the Afcfta and benefits of
some government policies in
the export and import sector,
including the benchmark
reversal policy.
Mr Jonathan Debra, a senior
officer of the Ghana Revenue
Authority (GRA-Customs
division), said aside from the
benchmark reversal a 30 per
cent discount policy was being
implemented to make Ghana’s
port competitive in the subregion.
He explained that the 30 per
cent discount was to cushion
businesses, adding that every
importer was entitled to that
facility and, therefore, had the
right to appeal as part of the
clearing process.
On AFCFTA, he indicated that
for Exporters in Ghana to benefit
fully, there was a tall list of
exportable products to facilitate
the process under the facility.
Every exporter is, therefore,
required to register as an
exporter first and then
crosscheck with the approved
exportable products to guide in
the development of products for
export.
He said the AFCFTA presents
an incredible opportunity for
businesses to expand their
trading activities in the African
continent and Exporters must
ensure they complied with
the requirements to take full
advantage.
Mr Charles Darling Sey, the
branch manager of the Shippers
Authority, said Exporters needed
to register with the association
to benefit from the various
programmes meant to build
their capacities.