Stakeholders Want Shea Industry Decoupled From COCOBOD

Shea Network Ghana (SNG) has called on government to seriously consider decoupling the shea sector and its entire value chain from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) in order to give it the needed attention it deserves for growth.

The Ghana Cocoa Board Act, Act 84 of 1981, puts Cocoa, Coffee and shea under one umbrella with equal opportunities, but cocoa has dominated the economy as a cash crop because of the attention and commitment governments have given to the crop over years.

But the shea sector embedded under COCOBOD, SNG observes, makes it difficult for the sector to get the much needed attention from government and investors. 

National Coordinator of SNG Zakaria Iddi, said this during a two-day training workshop organised by SNG to enhance the knowledge of selected journalists across the country on the shea industry and also expose them to the challenges militating against the industry’s smooth growth.

Mr. Iddi believes decoupling the shea sector from COCOBOD would go a long way to increase the investment opportunities the crop deserve as well as enhance the sector’s development potential and the entire value chain. 

Mr. Zakaria Iddi

He explained that private sector market forces usually determine the prices of shea products whereas that of Cocoa and Coffee are determined by government, making them economically valuable than the shea. 

According to him, shea nuts have the potential to address poverty in the north and said that it was high time governments stopped paying lip service to the sector and start to act by giving it the needed attention to grow like the cocoa sector.

“Cocoa and shea are quite different and need different agencies and strategies to deal with their issues. Putting shea under Ghana Cocoa Board makes the sector to retrogress”, he said. 

The shea industry engages over 900,000 people mainly women and according to Shea Network Ghana, the sector can still engage more if the government heeds the call of stakeholders to decouple it from COCOBOD. 

Shea butter has been found to have a fat composition similar to cocoa butter, and is used as a substitute for lard or margarine because it makes dough highly pliable.

The residue of shea serves as excellent fuel, and can also be mixed with mud for plastering traditional mud huts. The shea butter is known to be naturally rich in Vitamins A, E, and F, as well as a number of other vitamins and minerals.

Meanwhile, SNG is a civil society organization made up of shea actors along the value chain, and envisions a shea industry in which there are increased equitable benefits for all actors along the entire value chain.

Formed in 2010 through multi-stakeholder actions of producers, non-governmental organizations and government agencies, SNG among other things seeks to build and share information and experiences on the shea industry; provide an equitable space for engagements/discussions among shea sector stakeholders in a coordinated way; and contribute to shaping and sustaining a supportive policy and business environment.

KiC Foundation To Take Begging Mothers, Children Off Streets Of Tamale

Helen & Helena

Newly established and promising nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Kiddy Care Foundation (KiC Foundation), has launched a project aimed at halting begging by poor mothers of twins and triplets on the streets of Tamale.

It is an ambitious project by such a very fledgling charity, however management of the Foundation, believes support from benevolent individuals and other likeminded organisations, could make a huge difference.

As a first step towards realising this ambitious goal, KiC Foundation recently set out to register all begging mothers with twins or triplets and by the end of the programme, 65 mothers were registered. All registered mothers were present with their twins and triplets at the children’s section of the Northern Regional Library, venue of the programme.

Co-founded by triplets, Herbert, Helen and Helena Akwetey, the vision of KiC Foundation is to see a society that respects children’s rights to healthy life and total development. It seeks to realise this vision by creating a medium of intervention to support better living conditions for underprivileged children.  

Helena Akwetey told Savannahnews, that the Foundation would enrol all mothers into skills training programmes of their choice. “This will enable them to cater for their children after completion instead of sitting on the streets begging.”  

Nowhere in Ghana is the phenomenon of mothers with twins or triplets who beg on the streets, more pronounced than the Northern Regional capital town of Tamale. Notably Ghana’s third largest city after Accra and Kumasi, one of the saddest scenes to behold is mothers of twins or triplets begging on the streets with their young ones from dawn to dusk.

Mothers, Children Pose for a Picture After Being Registered

The phenomenon is being driven by superstitious beliefs which have been used to brainwash ignorant women, mostly the uneducated. They have been made to believe that when their twins, triplets, quadruplets or octuplets fall sick frequently, the best solution to end that problem is by sitting by the wayside or roam the streets and beg for alms everyday till the children grow.

Thus, it is common to see one or two-month old babies enduring the sunny weather conditions with their mothers. It is a life threatening situation to see such vulnerable women and their children struggling on the streets as speeding cars and motorbikes constantly screech to a halt each time any of them attempt to cross the road. At times, the unlucky ones get hit and injured or killed.

Director of Operations of KiC Foundation, Mr. Clement Boateng, appealed to Ghanaians who are well-to-do to support families and parents of multiple births to raise their kids in a healthy way that guarantees them a better future.

“When parents of twins and triplets are left to raise their kids alone amidst various forms of stigma, they are compelled to succumb to certain pressures to risk the lives of the kids for anything”, he observed.

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare has supported the KiC Foundation’s plan to take all begging mothers of twins and triplets off the streets of Tamale. 

Child Rights Officer of the Department in Tamale, Issahaku Baidawu, the initiative was laudable and intended to bring hope and support to such vulnerable people.

Tamale Polytechnic Student Wins Outstanding ABMA Award

Ms. Rita Alo Awewutagi

A Twenty-four year old student of the Tamale Polytechnic in Ghana, Ms. Rita Alo Awewutagi has received the 2015 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Association of Business Managers and Administrators (ABMA) Education, a UK based professional learning programme.

 Ms. Rita Alo Awewutagi was honoured by ABMA Education, UK for achieving the highest result in HIV/AIDS Management in the whole of Ghana. She received a Gold Medal with “ABMA Outstanding Achievement Award” embossed on it. Ms. Rita Alo Awewutagi also received a Special Citation and Certificate. 

In showing their appreciation and gratitude to Ms. Rita Alo Awewutagi for raising the image of the Tamale Polytechnic high, the school authorities organized a colourful event of all teaching and non-teaching staff, management, students and the media in honour and recognition of her (Ms. Rita Alo Awewutagi) and two other students of the ABMA Education Programme, Ms. Annabel Y. Yakubu and one Ms. Iddrisu Zubaida, who also perform creditably well in the ABMA exams.

The Vice Principal of the Tamale Polytechnic and ABMA Contact Person, Mr Sulemana Alhassan on behalf of the Principal and entire management and students of the Polytechnic congratulated Ms. Rita Alo Awewutagi for coming out as an outstanding student in the whole of Ghana and also for bringing the ABMA Education Outstanding Achievement Award (gold medal) to the School.

He encouraged the Award Winner to serve as an Ambassador of ABMA Education and also in HIV/AIDS management in Ghana as part of her contribution to the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Mr Sulemana Alhassan said that about 48 students of the Tamale Polytechnic are offering the ABMA Education programme and of the number, he was confident that their jobs are already secured due to the international recognition the programme has gained. 

Ms. Rita Alo Awewutagi Being Decorated With The Award

The ABMA Education Coordinator at the Tamale Polytechnic, Abukari Abdul-Aziz Danaa also expressed his appreciation to Ms. Rita Alo Awewutagi for making the lecturers and the polytechnic proud. He said that the ABMA programme which is recognized worldwide is developing students into professionals, managers and administrators to feed the various businesses. 

The ABMA Education 2015 Outstanding Achievement Award Winner, Ms. Rita Alo Awewutagi thanked God Almighty, officials of ABMA Education and the lecturers of the Tamale Polytechnic for the knowledge, support, encouragement and guidance given to her throughout her studies.

She said that she opted for HIV/AIDS management programme because she had always planned to support people living with HIV/AIDS and educate the society on how to properly relate with victims of the disease.

According to her, the Award from ABMA had further encouraged her to more and promised to go all out to achieve her dream of supporting people with HIV/AIDS especially those who are facing discrimination, stigmatization and no support from their communities.

Her Citation written and signed by the Senior Executive of ABMA Education UK, Alan Hodson was read to her by the Senior Assistant Registrar of Tamale Polytechnic, Alhaji Mohammed Aziz. “It is my great pleasure to inform you that you have been selected to receive our prestigious ABMA Education Outstanding Achievement Award for your performance in the June 2015 examination series. I am delighted to inform you that you achieved the highest result in HIV/AIDS Management in Ghana and we would like to congratulate you on this outstanding achievement. You are to receive a medal and certificate that bears your name and your achievement. This Award will be a valuable asset when applying for employment. We would like to offer you the opportunity to feature your success in ABMA education promotional material that is visible to hundreds of colleges and thousands of students worldwide who will be very interested to read about your achievements during your ABMA education studies”.