Month: December 2022

Kasoa (C/R) – The Cross Preachers Network (TCPN), an evangelism organisation in Ghana, has donated assorted items and an undisclosed amount of money to the Future Stars Orphanage at Buduburam in the Central Region.

The items; drinks, bags of rice, sachet water, toiletries and dresses, were a gesture of love for the Christmas season.

The group also held a funfair with series of activities and preached the word of God to put smiles on the faces of the children.

Mr Michael Nii Aryeetey, the Founder of TCPN, said the donation was an appreciation of God’s love and contribution towards the welfare of the children.

“This should not be seen as just a donation but a celebration of the Lord’s amazing mercies and favour in our lives. I feel excited to see the joy on the faces of these little ones who are our future leaders,” he said.

He commended all benefactors for supporting the cause of assisting the orphanage.

Mr Shadrack Donkor, the Founder of the Home, who received the items, expressed appreciation to the group for the gesture and called for more support to make the children comfortable.

“We hope in the near future you will be able to join many organisations to extend a helping hand to these children and their counterparts in other places,” he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Football [GFA] has paid tribute to Brazilian football legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele.

The Santos legend died on Thursday at the age of 82.

Pele was admitted to hospital three weeks ago in Brazil after his cancer progressed and he “required greater care related to renal and cardiac dysfunctions”.

The Ghana FA in a post joined millions of sporting fans to pay tribute to One of the greatest sporting athletes of all time.

“We are saddened by the demise of Brazilian and World Football legend Pele. Our condolences to the Brazilian Football Federation, all Brazilians and to all football-loving fans across the World. May Pele forever rest in his glory!”

Over the course of a 21-year career, he is credited with scoring a world-record 1,281 goals in 1,363 games, including 77 goals in 92 international games.

Pele was selected as Fifa’s Player of the Century in 2000. Pele is the only player to have won the World Cup three times, taking home the trophy in 1958, 1962, and 1970.

Source: Modern Ghana

Goviefe Todzi (V/R) – The Accelerated Rural Development Organisation (ARDO) has urged the Government to ensure that the Afadzato South District of the Volta Region is made a focal point in the implementation of carbon offsetting programmes to avert climate change effects.

The ARDO, a non-governmental organisation, which seeks to enhance development and forest conservation, noted that the area was well positioned and committed to improving Ghana’s forest cover by planting more trees to absorb carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere.

Carbon offsetting broadly refers to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or an increase in carbon storage (example through land restoration or planting of trees) used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere.

Ghana is recently reported to have received 486.2 million dollars from the World Bank from carbon sale as a result of a pilot project, started in 2010, to store carbon in some selected forest reserves in the country to mitigate climate change.

In July, 2019, Ghana ¬¬– with one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa – became the third country to sign a landmark agreement with the World Bank that rewards community efforts to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Mr Pascal Benson Atiglah, the Executive Director of ARDO, explained that the Weto Landscape in the district was strategically located, which made its rich biodiversity to have a remarkable impact on the entire Akwapim-Togo-Atakora range, being part of the Guinea-West Africa Mountain.

The people in the area had already been sensitised on the risks and effects of deforestation on the ecosystem and their livelihoods, hence their involvement in national climate change projects would not be a challenge, he said.

At a meeting with the chiefs and people of Goviefe Todzi in the Afadzato South District on the negative effects of climate change, Mr Atiglah urged the Government and other stakeholders to encourage the residents to protect the environment through their belief systems and cultural practices.

“The people are already poised to stop environmental practices that result in unpredictable rainfall and high solar radiation, which may cause or fuel bush fires, high temperatures, drought, soil degradation, dead water bodies, and loss of flora and fauna,” he said.

The district could boast of various ecosystems with suitable soils and climate for agriculture activities that supported the livelihoods of the people but due to the lack of sustainable management the area was fast losing its ecological importance, he said.

Mr Atiglah cited the Togbe Weto Sacred Grove in the community with its revered deity, as being rich in diverse flora, fauna, avifauna (the birds of a particular region, habitat, or geological period), and invertebrates, which helped in boosting the ecosystem, thereby serving as a barrier against climate change.

“This is basically because the beliefs of the people have acted as binding force for them to protect the shrine by abstaining from practices that would offend the ancestors and the deity.”

“In fact, this is the surest way of involving the local people in environmental conservation, a more effective way to conserve the forests than the strict enforcement of national laws and implementation of policies.”

The range also has antelopes, duiker, headgehog, rats, bushbuck, snails, and warhugs.

However, Mr Atiglah lamented the seeming clash between the traditional authority and other religious groups over the customary practices in environmental conservation.

He said while some believed in sacred groves, deities and the environment as a spiritual and cultural heritage, non-believers in African Traditional Religion considered such groves as “satanic and waste of natural/economic resources.”

He urged all religious bodies to come to a common ground in fostering environmental protection instead of considering, as negative, the customs and traditions in mitigating climate effects.

“Religious bodies should come together to promote community forest conservation and avoid despising the beliefs and practices of the indigenous people that have contributed greatly to environmental conservation”.

Mr Winfried Daniel Donkor, Programmes Director/Coordinator of ADRO, commended the Goviefe Todzi fire volunteers for their efforts in protecting the grove and the environment against fires to sustain the livelihoods of the community, which is predominantly farmer-based.

He appealed to the Afadzato South District Assembly to provide the volunteers with firefighting equipment including extinguishers and wellington boots as well as periodic training to facilitate their activities.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The 202/23 Ghana Premier League matchday 10 games return today at the various stadia across the country with some exciting fixtures.

At the Red Bull Arena in Sogakope, Legon Cities will host Karela United later today with kick-off scheduled at 15:00GMT.

On Saturday, Berekum Chelsea at the Golden City Park will welcome Babiani Gold Stars with kick-off scheduled at 15:00GMT.

Tamale City at the Tamale Sports Stadium will host Accra Great Olympics with kick-off also at 15:00GMT.

On Sunday at the Nana Agyemang Badu I Park in Dormaa, Aduana Stars will welcome Asante Kotoko in a much-anticipated clash.

King Faisal at the Baba Yara Stadium will entertain Nsoatreman FC also on Sunday.

FC Samartex 1996 at the Nsenkyire Sports Complex in Samreboi will host Dreams FC.

Real Tamale United at the Tamale Sports Stadium will take on struggling Kotoku Royals.

Medeama SC at Akoon Park will take on Accra Lions.

On Monday, Hearts of Oak at the Cape Coast Stadium will welcome Bechem United with kick-off at 15:00GMT.

Full Fixtures

• Legon Cities v Karela United

• Berekum Chelsea v Babiani Gold Stars

• Tamale City v Accra Great Olympics

• Aduana Stars v Asante Kotoko

• King Faisal v Nsoatreman FC

• FC Samartex 1996 v Dreams FC

• Real Tamale United v Kotoku Royals

• Medeama SC v Accra Lions

• Hearts of Oak v Bechem United

Source: Modern Ghana

Accra – The Eco Radiant Engineering Solutions Ltd (EcoRES), a youth-led organisation in the Ashanti Region, has created awareness on the health benefits of using improved cookstoves.

In a sensitisation programme, dubbed: “Stay safe, live long”, Mr John Mark Addo, the Chief Executive Officer of EcoRES, said through the programme, the organisation aimed to combat carbon footprints as its contribution to the fight against climate change.

It had, therefore, distributed 200 household-improved cookstoves to the Teacher Mante Community in the Eastern Region.

The EcoRES aims at improving livelihoods through innovation, technology development and scaling, knowledge transfer, and education.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Addo said since the establishment of the company, it had manufactured over 10,000 institutional and household cookstoves.

He said the World Bank Report on Ghana, on the Impact of Air Pollution (HAP), March 2018, indicated that approximately 77 per cent of Ghana’s population still relied on traditional biomass for cooking, which resulted in severe negative health impacts.

“The total welfare losses due to HAP in Ghana reached US$3.4 billion in 2016. As a result, the government, in partnership with its development partners and the private sector, has made strides on the policy front by developing a clean cooking strategy,” he said.

“This will help to optimise investment support, coordinate actions on demand and supply, and provide an enabling environment for the private sector to catalyse actions on delivering clean cooking needs.”

Mr Addo expressed optimism that with the organisation’s efforts to expand its production capacity to 20,000 stoves per month, it would take advantage of the voluntary carbon market.

He noted that the clean cooking sector had received very little local financial and capital market support over the years.

He urged investors, particularly in the voluntary carbon markets across the world, to explore partnerships in Ghana on the cookstove carbon project, especially with his organisation.

That, he noted, would be essential to promoting the fight against climate change and protecting the health of women and children from air pollution using improved cookstoves.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Bottles. Plastic bags. Surgical facemasks. These are just some of the 29,029 items we found along the 180km Araromi coastline Nigeria in nine months while studying marine litter. The litter weighed in at a hefty 465.54kg.

Our study took place along the Araromi seaside in Ilaje, south-west Nigeria, between January and September 2021. A collaboration between researchers at Centre for Energy Research and Development (CERD), Obafemi Awolowo University and Marine Litter Watch Nigeria, a student volunteering group, it aimed to provide a baseline data about the area and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on marine litter monitoring and prevention.

The study used the “clean coast index”, a science-based estimation tool used internationally, to assess the cleanliness of the beach. The beach was classified as dirty during the dry season and extremely dirty in the rainy season.

Over the past decade, marine litter has become a growing global problem which poses an increasingly serious threat to the environment, economies and human health.

The global nonprofit organisation Ocean Conservancy reported that in 2021 about 9,760,227 litter items were collected over nearly 30,000km of the world’s coastal areas.

At present, only 17% of world meat production is food from the sea. But demand is expected to increase strongly. Marine litter is one of the threats to biodiversity, the production of seafood and the maritime economy.

It’s clear from our research and other studies that West Africa’s marine litter problem cannot be ignored. The region has an estimated population of no fewer than 419 million people and is one of the continent’s fastest growing regions both in demography and economically.

The thousands of kilograms of litter reported as clogging up the beaches of Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone could also stymie the region’s economic and tourism growth, as well as putting people’s health at risk.

Piles of litter

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines marine litter as items that have been made or used by people and discarded into the sea or rivers, or on beaches. It includes items brought indirectly to the sea by rivers, sewerage, storm water or winds, or accidentally lost at sea in bad weather.

Other sources include industrial emissions, discharge from storm water drains and untreated municipal sewage.

Our Centre for Energy Research and Development analysed 29,029 beach litter items found at Araromi seaside.

Araromi is a coastal town in Ilaje local government area of Ondo State, south-west Nigeria. It covers an area of 3,000km² and lies 238km to the east of Nigeria’s most populous city, Lagos. There are over 82 fishing communities on the coastline as fishing and boat making are major sources of income for the Ilaje people.

The motivation for this study was to show that remote, less densely populated communities along the coast are not shielded from the impacts of marine litter.

As measured by the clean coast index, the beach was dirty during the dry season (7,358 litter items; 141.3kg) and extremely dirty in the rainy season (21,671 litter items; 324.24kg). This implies that rain is a major factor in transporting litter from inland to the marine environment through various waterways.

The items we found included glass, metals, plastic (beverage bottles, caps, disposable cups, cutlery), abandoned fishing gear, ropes and wooden canoes, fabrics, cigarette butts and medical waste (syringes, facemasks, hospital PPE, intravenous drip bottles and sanitary pads), among other litter.

Most of the items were household waste which was poorly disposed of. Some of it stemmed from recreational (tourist) and fishing activities (economic factors).

In a similar study conducted in 2016 on lagoon beaches in Ghana, high litter deposition (49,457 items) during the rainy season was reported. This was attributed to river runoff and flooding. Most of the litter was plastic.

Nigeria and Ghana are both on the Gulf of Guinea, which has a coastline of about 6,000km from Senegal to Angola. The Gulf coast has the highest population density in tropical Africa. It is also the site of growing commercial and industrial activities. It is a shipping zone for oil and gas, as well as goods to and from central and southern Africa. The region lacks efficient waste disposal and management mechanisms and policies. All these factors help explain the state of the beach cleanliness and the likely increase in the problem if nothing is done about it.

Potential interventions

What can be done?

First, frequent and coordinated clean-up efforts – by government, NGOs or volunteers. We saw none during our work at Araromi. There were no rubbish bins for beach goers to use. Coordinated efforts among the fishing communities could address the disposal of old and abandoned fishing gear.

Government at various levels must create more awareness about the dangers of marine litter and the legal, policy and institutional frameworks that govern it. This would help local communities to understand that natural resources like beaches and lagoons are their heritage, and need to be protected.

Manufacturers must be involved in monitoring and cleaning up their waste (extended producer responsibility, EPR). They also need to support awareness programmes and sponsor clean-up activities.

Most importantly, manufacturers must develop innovative materials which are eco-friendly as alternatives for their product packaging.

Source: The Conversation

Tema — The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has assured the public of enhanced working relations and collaboration in 2023 to ensure the safety of all,

“Protection of public health is a shared responsibility, the need to work with the public,”Mrs. Joycelyn Adeline Egyakwa-Amusah, Head of Food Safety Coordination and Consumer Education Department, FDA told the Ghana News Agency in an interview,

She said that although the Authority has over the years provided quality services to protect public health, “it was intensifying steps to be more proactive”.

“As for FDA we are very dynamic and we move with the times, our plan for 2023 is to improve upon our services to the public and also ensure that we intensify our activities so that products in the market are safe,” she said.

She explained that the protection of public health was done through the provision and enforcement of standards for the sale of food and other consumables in the country noting that as a dynamic institution, the authority adopts to market trend changes, upscale surveillance, and injects modern technologies into its operations to protect the public.

Mrs Egyakwa-Amusah said the Authority would upscale market surveillance to ensure that any unwholesome products which end up in the markets or shops are traced within a reasonable time, removed, and destroyed.

She said the Consumer Education Directorate of the Food Division of the FDA would roll out consistent public education on food hygiene and other related issues next year, and called on the media to support the work of the authority as a corporate social responsibility.

She said the Authority would not relent on the safety of Ghanaians as such, it would sanction any facility that failed to adhere to FDA regulations.

“We try as much as possible to give a human face to the enforcement of rules and regulations, FDA officials undertake a regular inspection to guide companies and factories on the need to maintain standards at all times.

“If we identify serious breaches, we act immediately by closing down the facility until the breach is ratified, but if we identify minor infractions we issue a directive for the problem to be resolved within a specific period,” she stated.

She added that the FDA website is very active stating all the rules and regulations in product registrations as well as proactive client service with the latest information uploaded and available to the public.

Mrs. Egyakwa-Amusah called on the public especially traders to adhere to the rules to prevent any unpleasant situation and advised consumers to be vigilant at all times, “whatever product you buy check all the necessary information on the product before paying for it”.

The Food Safety and Consumer Education Directorate’s scope of mandate includes regulating commercial facilities that prepare and/or sell cooked foods; undertaking foodborne disease surveillance and investigation, and being the contact point for the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) in Ghana.

As part of its mandate, it undertakes operational activities including inspection of Food Services establishments – restaurants, food joints, street-vendor food, and catering facilities; surveillance for unregistered facilities; and issuance of Food Hygiene Permits for approved facilities.

Others are to undertake Consumer Complaints Investigations into food product safety and quality issues; Foodborne diseases surveillance; maintain a database on foodborne diseases; investigation of outbreak cases; carry out food safety awareness campaigns for consumers – educational institutions and public places.

It also collaborates with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to ensure Food Safety at the District Level; drafting bills, and drafting and review of guidelines and codes of practice.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana legend, Rev. Osei Kofi has bemoaned the lack of quality players in the country in recent times.

According to him, Ghana at the moment lacks footballers but only has football players whose quality is not up to standard to compete for laurels.

Speaking in an interview with Original FM on the Super Sports Show, Rev. Osei Kofi said, “most of the current players playing for Ghana national teams are football players but not footballers.”

He shares the view that Ghana needs to come up with a conscious plan to develop players into top footballers to form national teams that will match up with any other side in the world.

Fortunately, there are now young players in the current Black Stars squad that many believe have the quality to change the narrative of the national team.

Following inspiring displays, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, although Ghana was the lowest-ranked country, many insist that in the near future, the Black Stars will be formidable enough to win the Africa Cup of Nations Cup.

The likes of Mohammed Kudus, Abdul Salis Samed, Kamaldeen Sulemana, and Mohammed Salisu are just a few of the young players that are expected to be key for the Black Stars in years to come.

Source: Ghana Web