Ghana becomes first country to launch national yam strategy





Ghana has become the first country in the world to launch the national yam strategy for the development of the yam industry in the country.

The national yam strategy which puts yam in the spotlight as a key crop to help Ghana fight poverty, enhance food security, and improve the livelihoods and income of women and men engaged in the yam sector.

The launching which took place in a conference hall in Accra at the La palm royal beach hotel attracted a huge media attention including high level of dignitaries across the country and other parts of Africa and beyond.

Speaking during the launching Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture Hon. Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan disclosed the strategy envisions making Ghana the leading source of premium quality yam products with global penetration and contributing to an improved Ghanaian economy and livelihoods.

He noted one of the objectives of the strategy is to develop commercially-driven research and development as well as capacity building in yam value chain.

The economic value of the yam industry in Ghana has grown quite rapidly in recent years, with its foreign exchange earnings shooting up to the third position among the non-traditional export commodities in the period 2010 to 2012. Demand for yam in both fresh and processed forms is increasing in new markets abroad and domestically. The industry faces tremendous opportunities as well as challenges and requires support policies, private sector investment, and to become organized as a whole value chain.
 Chairman of the Ghana Yam Strategy Committee, Mr Anthony Sikpa says despite the contribution of yam, the crop has not been given the right attention and according to him, is an issue the strategy aims to correct.


The Ghana Yam Strategy is a bottom-up policy process that started in 2012. It is a private sector-led road map championed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture with the support of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection.
  The International Trade Centre (ITC) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has provided technical support and process facilitation to help push the agenda to a successful end.

The platform includes approximately 200 stakeholders from the private sector, representing all areas of the industry, and support institutions (Ghana Standards Authority, Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Export Development and Agriculture Investment Fund, and National Development Planning Commission), commercial and development banks, research centers (CSIR, etc.), academia, and key ministries such as Trade, Agriculture, Finance, and Women and Children.
The Yam Sector Strategy aims at creating business and industry development with social impact while ensuring food security. It is based on five milestones:
• Increasing fresh yam exports;
• Developing a market for yam by-products and ingredients;
• Reinforcing domestic industry competitiveness;
• Promoting women-led yam business;
• Increasing income from yam and ensuring food security.
Perlin Gunesoglu, Chairperson for the Turkish Ghanaian Business Council for DeIk (the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board), observed that the strategy provided a platform for transforming the yam sector into a vibrant industry beyond but not excluding food security.
According to her, “The work being done in Ghana for yam is very valuable and can serve as an example for other countries trying to develop their sector looking at commercial as well as social objectives.”
Pelin pointed out that apart from yam as food, the crop can also be used in many different industries including food, paper, textiles, and adhesives, through value addition.
But to achieve a high level of value addition, she emphasized the need for support from the government on each step of the strategy, starting with farming and collection of yam genetic resources.

 






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Photo of a man with amazingly ‘super head’ causes a stir on social media

Image
Many eyes have seen it but are yet to believe. To those who are convinced that God's creature exits on earth with such a weird shape of head have been left totally flabbergasted and worried too.That is human nature; doubting Thomases everywhere. A man whose photo has been making rounds on social media platforms has been the one in the centre of a huge controversy that rendered onlookers astounded and divided. The photograph in question has really created a scene that is of comic relief and over-sensational. The problem per se is not about his facial appearance but borders specifically on the 'caricature' shape of his head coupled with his jaw-jutting chin which has become the point of attraction at all cost.  It appears no amount of words could best describe the shape of his 'Hill-Valley-Hill Head' which looks very sparkling without hairs on it.  But some social media users who caught sight of the photograph have been reacting with varying
Read more

Why Ghana must prioritise establishment of Public Health Emergency Fund to support healthcare delivery

Image
  People and the diseases they carry can be easily transmitted to any location in a matter of hours since we live in a linked, globalized society. Infectious illness epidemics are becoming more common, particularly in developing nations, where they have severe effects on people's health, social conditions, and economies. An epidemic is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. Being no respecter of person, an epidemic disease can affect both young and old of the society. The world since its creation has encountered several kinds of epidemics which have claimed many lives and caused great devastations to nations of the world. In the last century for instance, the world has been hit by six (6) different kinds of epidemics with devastating results on its economy, people’s health and social conditions. Between 1918-1922, Russia was unfortunate to have been hit hard by Typhus, (a fever caused by bacteria that are spread t
Read more

Video: Saving lives, contributing to achieving SDGs; the success story of Human Rights Reporters Ghana

Image
  In a bid to help end the kidnappings as well as the burgeoning human rights and social issues in Ghana and beyond, the Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG) in 2019 embarked on a ‘Nationwide Sensitization Campaign on Kidnapping, Teenage, Pregnancy and Tramadol/Drug Abuse’ (KTT). The campaign, popularly known as the ‘KTT Project’, focused on addressing issues of kidnapping, teenage pregnancy and drug abuse but equally set about creating a deeper education on human rights to bring about a cultural change. The ‘messiah initiative’ which saw a dedicated team of young volunteers in communities, schools and religious settings within three regions of the country managed to reach over 60,000 Ghanaians over two years sensitizing them on the most pressing and critical and social issues Ghana is facing.   HRRG team of volunteers The HRRG is a non-governmental organization (NGO) which brings together journalists, news editors, human rights activists, advocates, defenders and lawyers to advan
Read more