Day: December 2, 2023

Okokodrufo Ogyeabuo Nana Kwamena Hamma Ababio, the Ajumako Omanhen, has appealed to the government for soft loans and other agricultural inputs for farmers in the Central Region to expand their capacity and boost food production.

He said the region’s large tracts of fertile land, coupled with the favourable rain pattern put it in the best position to feed the entire country especially with staples like yam, plantain, and cocoyam.

Speaking at the regional celebration of the 39th Farmers’ Day in Ajumako, on the theme: ‘Delivering smart solutions for sustainable food security and resilience,’ Ogyeabuo Ababio observed that the cost of farming and inadequate support systems was a major impediment in achieving food sufficiency.

He said government could, for instance, absorb the cost of preparing the lands for cultivation which he said consumed a chunk of the farmers’ capital.

‘Less an acre of land costs GHC300.00 to clear over here. But with this support, we will be able to produce enough to feed ourselves all
year.

‘In fact, this will augment the government Planting for Food and Jobs policy,’ he said, adding that storage facilities should be provided for every District to avoid post-harvest losses.

He also appealed to the government to fix feeder roads in the region to enable farmers easily cart their foods to the market centres.

He was optimistic that such interventions would make farming in the region more attractive and mitigate the incidence of youth exodus to the bigger cities in search of greener pastures.

‘We have the land and so all that is left for us is to take advantage of the favourable weather patterns to ensure the availability of food in our country,’ he stated.

‘Agriculture is the backbone of our economy, and it employs about 60 per cent of our population, and so if we make it work, 60 per cent of our problems is solved,’ he added.

Mr George Lawson, a lecturer and journalist from the Awutu Senya District, was adjudged the overall best farmer of the Central Region while Madam Charity Fiwonu fr
om the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem District emerged the overall best fisher.

In all, the region awarded 13 farmers and fishers including the best female farmer and the best cocoa farmer.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Daniel Acquah, 44, won the overall best farmer during the 39th farmers’ day celebration at Nyanfeku Ekroful in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese (AAK), District of the Central Region.

He was given a fridge, wheelbarrow, wellington boots, cutlass, and other farm inputs.

Mr Acquah was grateful to God and the Assembly for the award and assured that he would impart the experience gained unto the younger generation.

Mr. Yaw Ainoo was adjudged first runner-up and Mr. Christian K. Donkor, second runner up.

In all, nine farmers and fishermen were awarded.

They are Mr. Emmanuel Nii Boi Mensah, best crop farmer, Mr. Isaac Ansah Boafo, best livestock farmer, Mr. Bernard Badu Aggrey, best physically challenged farmer, Mr. Isaac Otoo, best marine fisherman, Mrs. Efua Amoaba, best fish processesor and Mr. Derrick Okyere, best agriculture worker.

Mr Willyevans Obiri-Awuah, District Chief Executive of AAK commended the farmers and fishermen for their hard work and tireless efforts in providing food for the district and th
e nation.

He told the farmers to adopt innovative and modern methods in farming to help boost agriculture and charged the Agric Extension Officers to regularly visit farmers to educate them to improve their farms.

Mrs. Faustina Agyarko, District Agric Officer, also applauded the efforts of farmers in the national economy by seeing farming as a lucrative business and doing it with all their might to reap the benefits.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Peace Council in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Danish Embassy, has held a community sensitisation workshop on hate speech and negative counter narratives for at-risk youth in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality.

The two-day workshop, which brought together selected youth groups from the municipality aimed at equipping them with knowledge and effective responses to hate speech to become campaigners against hate speech in their communities.

It also focused on equipping them to contribute to early warning detection and prevention of hate speech and negative counter narratives in both social media and traditional media to contribute to preventing violent extremism.

The workshop formed part of an 18-month UNDP Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) project, dubbed, ‘PVE Atlantic Corridor Regional project 2023 to 2025’, with support from the Government of Denmark under its Peace and Stabilisation Fund (PSF), being implemented in Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Cote d`Ivo
ire.

The project seeks to prevent and address the immediate localised drivers of radicalisation leading to violent extremism in target communities in these countries while providing support to strengthen the `infrastructure of peace`, namely mechanisms for early warnings and initial response at local levels.

Alhaji Sumaila Issaka, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the National Peace Council, noted that the emergence of new and diverse threats of violence has resulted in significant adverse effects on the social and economic progress of several nations.

He observed, therefore made it important to promote and disseminate alternative and counter-narrative messages, including hate speech promoting violence extremism in targeted locations to maintain peace and harmony to enhance development.

‘It is important for us as a people to live together in harmony and not look down on others and demean them just for the mere fact that we see them differently in terms of their cultural background and l urge all of you
to from now on, make attempts to foster unity,’ he added.

Mr Ali Anankpieng, the Regional Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, speaking on ‘Understanding and Responding to Conflict’, highlighted that when conflicts were not handled properly, they could escalate to become violence which had the tendency of causing instability.

He therefore urged the participants to be accommodating and find an amicable way of solving the differences in their respective communities even if it means compromising.

Madam Alice Bokuma, Early Warning and Gender Officer, West Africa Network for Peacebuiding (WANEP), Ghana, reiterated that the peace infrastructure was not limited to only the security services but the whole community, particularly the youth who were targets of the extremist to be sensitised to identify early warning signs and guard against radicalisation.

‘WANEP Ghana is committed to building relations for peace and aside the fact that we have trained monitors at the community, district and regional l
evel, we are still committed to partnering with other organisations to build peace in our communities,’ she added.

In a speech read on his behalf, Mr Joseph Adongo, the Kassena-Nankana Municipal Chief Executive, expressed gratitude to the National Peace Council and all the stakeholders involved for spearheading the project aimed at fostering peace and countering violent extremism and added that the effort would go a long to contribute to maintaining peace in the area.

Ms Sheila Anao, a participant said, ‘the workshop has exposed us to a lot of things that we didn’t know and going forward it would help us prevent conflict and make appropriate reports when we see something.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ahafo Regional Office of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has held a sensitization campaign for traders at the Goaso market on the importance of the ‘MyNHIS’ mobile application (app).

The campaign forms part of the Authority’s 20th Anniversary celebration of the Scheme, on the theme: ‘Health Heroes: 20 Years Strong’.

It aims at assisting individuals to download the health insurance ‘app’ on smartphones for first-time registration, and account renewal, and offering other convenient services.

The campaign started with a float through the main streets of Goaso to the market area, where the staff had one-on-one education with the traders.

In an interview with the media after the float, Mr Alexander Fordjour, the Ahafo Regional Director of the NHIA, expressed satisfaction with the positive response from the public, signifying their belief in the accessibility of the scheme.

He urged the District and Municipal managers to replicate the campaign in their respective areas to mobilize and enrol
more individuals in the scheme.

Ms. Dora Oduro, a trader from Mim, expressed excitement at the ‘NHIS App’, saying the application would bring convenience to its users, based on the information she had received.

Mr Sampson Oppong, another trader, said though he was not a registered member of the scheme, he had enrolled his wife and children.

He expressed his intention to register now that the application had been introduced, saying it would be convenient and stress-free.

Other traders also acknowledged the potential benefits of the ‘NHIS App’ and expressed their willingness to embrace the technological advancement.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Emmanuel Amuzu, a 53-year-old former Assemblyman of Tegbi-Xekpa has been adjudged the district’s best farmer in the Anloga District of the Volta Region.

He went home with a motorcycle, cutlasses, Wellington boots, 2 knapsack sprayers, weedicides, a full piece of GTP cloth and a certificate.

Eight others were awarded in various categories, the District’s Best Physically Challenged Farmer, was won by Agbakpe Carl Besah; Best Crop Farmer won by Gadah Courage Yao; District Best Fish Farmer went to Ranslord Bedzrah Wisdom.

Others were District Best Female Farmer won by Rejoice Anaglatey; the district best livestock farmer going to Etudu Samuel; the district youth farmer won by Fianyhia Noah; District best farming group went to Shalom Group 1 from Galo-Sota and the District best veteran farmer was won by a 75-year-old Larry Kporgbe.

Speaking to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Amuzu expressed joy saying; ‘I am highly motivated to win this award this year, it’s due to many years of hard work, I will not relent but wor
k harder to live up to expectation.,’

Mr. Franklin Agbove, District Director of Agriculture, in presenting the awards mentioned how farmers in the district had a difficult year due to flooding from the Akosombo Dam spillage and rains in the past months.

‘It is a difficult year for my farmers this year, many lost their farm beds to the flood whiles some also got displaced from their homes, so to be here today is a success and am proud of the awardees.’

He also bemoaned the bad nature of roads connecting the farmsteads to market centres and called for action towards fixing such roads.

Mr. Seth Yormewu, District Chief Executive of Anloga congratulated the awardees and charged them to keep feeding the nations.

He said the second phase of the Planting for Food and Job Policy (PFJ) should entice the youth to embrace the concept to become self-reliant.

Togbi Hatsu III of Dzita and District NCCE Director, chaired the occasion with other dignitary’s present being Mr, Richard Kwame Sefe, Member of Parliament for
Anlo, Mr. Philip Bokorgah, District NADMO director, and heads of departments in the Anloga District Assembly.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Central Regional Directorate of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has embarked on a float as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Clad in the 20th anniversary black and white T-shirts, the staff of NHIA accompanied by large numbers of its customers, paraded the streets of the ancient city of Cape Coast in grand style.

Dancing to music from a sound system, they processed through the principal streets beginning from the sprawling city of Abura Goil filling station opposite the Cape Coast new Sports Stadium.

They steadily passed along the Pedu junction portion of the Takoradi highway through Adisadel, Aboom Wells, and Kotokuraba market and ended at Chapel Square, near the Cape Coast Castle.

‘Health heroes: 20 years strong,’ was the theme for the float, which was dedicated to educating the public on the new NHIS innovation dubbed: ‘MyNHIS App.’

Whilst dancing to the beautiful rendition of Ghana hiplife songs, the excited staff educated the
public on their services and registered people onto the Scheme using the MyNHIS App on their smartphones.

They also schooled customers on the membership mobile renewal system that allows individuals to renew their subscriptions on their mobile phones.

The digitalized process is expected to improve the compilation and authentication of claims to reduce the chances of fraud in the system.

Earlier, the NHIA held a blood donation exercise in collaboration with the Ankaful Psychiatrist Hospital and the Cape Coast Nursing Training College.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the float, Mr Fred Appiah, the Regional Director of NHIA said the anniversary was worth celebrating.

This is because they now cover a wide area across the districts to bring affordable health care to all and thus must be touted.

The Scheme, he noted remained the surest bet to achieving the Universal Health Coverage- and ‘ensuring all people in Ghana have timely access to high-quality health services, ir
respective of ability to pay at the point of use.’

Outlining some gains, he said the Authority targeted to register 1.5 million people in the Region but achieved 1.2 million in nine months with 463 providers.

He assured that his outfit was committed to ensuring an efficient system to deliver the highest quality service in the health care system.

Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to introduce NHIS in 2003 through an Act of Parliament (Act 650, Amended Act 852) and full implementation started in 2004.

Under the NHIS amended Act 852 (2012), every Ghanaian is required to enrol in a health insurance scheme.

It has contributed to improved health services utilisation and health outcomes.

The authority has a total of 166 district offices with five registration centres which report to the membership and regional operations’ directorate.

Source: Ghana News Agency