News
Youth urged to venture into agriculture for sustainable income
An agribusiness conference to expose young people to job opportunities that exist in the agricultural sector has been held in Accra under the auspices of the Master Card Foundation.
It was held in partnership with Agri-Impact Limited and the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) on the theme “Empowering Agrofuture Entrepreneurs.”
The conference was simultaneously held at the Universities of Ghana and Professional Studies, Accra and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and targeted young people from the age of 15 -35 years.
In an address, Abraham Safo, a Value Chain Enterprise Development Specialist for the programme, said it was important to rope in the young ones at the university, particularly those pursuing Masters programmes to understand the opportunities in the agricultural space.
According to him, this would set their minds right from the onset and disabuse their minds that agriculture was synonymous to the traditional cutlass and hoe farming full of drudgery, stating that job opportunities in crop insurance, banking, credit management, marketing amongst others exist in the agric ecosystem.
With a target of 330,000 jobs along four agricultural value chains in the areas of rice, tomatoes, poultry and soya bean, Mr Safo said the initiative would help elevate the subject of agriculture to the forefront of national discourse and expose young people to the opportunities therein.
He said Agri-Impact extends support to young entrepreneurs in agriculture through capacity building training, adding that support was also extended to young entrepreneurs in the form of starter- packs, access to land, facilitating access to land, among others.
He called on the youth to see agriculture as a business and profitable venture out of which they could make a sustainable living.
On his part, Emmanuel Owusu, GRASAG National President, said the programme was organised to expose members to the opportunities within the agricultural value chain.
Urging the youth to take advantage of the programme, Mr Owusu said with the advent of modern technology, agriculture has taken on a new dimension which does not necessitate being on the farm to till the land.
“We want our members to know that, it was not a case of always doing an office or corporate job but you could venture into agriculture and earn sustainable income,” he said.
A chief farmer, Nana Owusu- Achiaw, said to overcome the challenge of reducing purchasing power, young entrepreneurs should understand where the bulk of money goes in the scheme of things.
He urged participants to apply the FIST principle which deals with using technology for farming purposes, rendering services in the value chain, engaging in farm and food business among others.
By Norman Cooper
News
Craze for x’mas shopping: Crowded markets, low patronage
Vendors of food and other wares associated with the Christmas celebration have expressed surprise at the low patronage despite the increased number of visitors to some of the major markets across the capital.
Four days to the celebration(Christmas), the markets are filled with various products ranging from food, clothing, livestock and many other stuff, but according to the vendors, patrons are doing more ‘window’ shopping.
The Spectator on visits to some of the markets in the capital, notably the Odawna, Makola, Accra Central Business District, New Town and others made similar observations as shoppers crowd them but did little in terms of purchases.
The paper also observed that majority of vendors, originally selling other wares have switched to product related to the festive season.
What it means is that there are a lot more clothes, food and vegetables, livestock and poultry, toys, firecrackers, drinks of different types and many others on display.
The markets have also stretched to the pedestrian pavement, leaving very narrow spaces for commuters to move about freely.
That, in addition to a few of the female vendors dressed in coloured attires to reflect the occasion, has heightened the euphoria, leaving the low sales as the only headache for the vendors.
Speaking with this paper, they sounded very optimistic, believing that sales would improve in the last few days to the yuletide.
According to them, there was the opportunity to sell beyond Christmas as the New Year celebration offers similar opportunity to trade the same wares.
They urged patrons to throng the markets to shop since prices were quite moderate and products affordable for all.
News
Retirement service for Elder John Ackom-Asante,3 others
Retired Deputy Editor of The Spectator, Elder John Ackom-Asante, was last Sunday honoured by the Church of Pentecost Windy Hills District in Kasoa in the Central Region, with a retirement thanksgiving service, after serving for 26 year as an Elder of the church.
He was honoured with a citation and certificate of service along with three other elders who served in the capacity for various years.
Elder Ackom-Asante was baptised at the Darkuman Central Assembly in 1979 and ordained as an Elder in 1997.
The citation read “Your selfless service, zeal, willingness to relate wholeheartedly and your desire to effect change has gone a long way to shape the lives of many people in the church and the nation over the 26 years of your dedication to the service of the Lord.”
Elder Ackom- Asante held many positions at the Darkuman Central Assembly, Obuasi in the Ashanti Region and Tema, serving in various capacities as youth and evangelism ministry leader and marriage counsellor.
He was the founding member of the Darkuman Christian Fellowship, a member of the Greater Accra Christian Fellowship; member of Bible Society of Ghana; founding member Obuasi Chapter Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International and founding member of New Times Corporation Christian Fellowship and Chaplain, Methodist University Tema Campus 2009- 2010.
As a professional journalist, Elder Ackom-Asante combined effectively and efficiently his duty as a member and elder of the church and the demands of his profession, with admiration from the church, kith and kin, till his retirement on December
From Alhaji Salifu Abdul-Rahaman, Kasoa
