Agriculture Is The Number One Choice of Voters, Or
at least, it ought to be...
Feature Article, by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro
If we take electoral manifestos as exams that
political parties write in order to be marked by their masters, who
are the Ghanaian voters, Agriculture would carry 60% of the total
grade. This is so, not only because, effectively moving Ghana forward
crucially depend on our Agriculture and agro-industrial production
policies, but over 60% of our population depend directly on it for
their daily survival. It is the safety net for the poorest of the
poor in our country. Agriculture singularly through the Cocoa
Marketing Board, not only built all the hundreds of secondary
schools, Universities, Teacher Training Colleges, Salaries and
emoluments, CMB scholarships, and everything we know about free
education. So it makes a lot of sense, that if you really want free
education, the first thing you need to do is to take your agriculture
seriously. The positive ramifications of its multiplier effects in
every sector of the Ghanaian society cannot be overstated.
Thus for me, whilst I strongly support the Free
Education policy enshrined in our constitution, governing a country
takes more brains than brawn and empty sloganeering. What is the
point in starving other crucial sectors of the economy from vital
resources in the name of free education, when we can achieve this
without effort when we push on Agriculture as the fulcrum? Akufo-Addo
is seeing things upside down and has got his educational policy
standing on the head with its feet up in the air! There is nothing to
be proud of this mischief purely aimed at fooling those they can
fool, including themselves!
The discerning electorate who are seeing through
this empty charade which makes no economic sense in terms of what the
consequences would be on the other sectors of an economy, with
limited resources being pumped into free education, without any
discussion of quality, content, and issues of accessibility. I have
already had the occasion to write on Akufo-Addo's free education when
he disgraced himself to the whole world, the kind of charlatan that
he is:
Transcript of BBC's HARDtalk, by the Odikro: Nana
Akufo Addo 05 March, 2012 from the 19.59th minute to 20.33:
PRESENTER: The greatest indictment, frankly, of
your government, is the way in which you squandered money and left
this huge hole in the budget deficit and I think you would now
acknowledge that that was a profound problem the last time your party
was in power?
NANA AKUFO-ADDO: No, I don't believe... I don't
believe... I think that... No, I don't accept this proposition at
all.
PRESENTER: I think what the Ghanaian people, it
seems to me, from reading a lot of stuff from the Ghanaian press,
want to know is, where exactly is the money going to come from next
time around if you are in power, for some of the very extravagant
promises you've made? You for example have offered free secondary
schooling for all Ghanaians. A promise you say you would absolutely
deliver in your four years in power?
NANA AKUFO-ADDO: Absolutely! Absolutely!
Absolutely.
PRESENTER: So have you costed it? How much will it
cost?
NANA AKUFO-ADDO: The costing... the costing... is
being... is being done. I mean very very soon will be in the
position.
PRESENTER: No, you must have costed it! You can't
make a promise like that without costing it?
NANA AKUFO-ADDO: No, no, no, very, very soon we
are going to be...
PRESENTER: How much?
NANA AKUFO-ADDO: Very, very soon, we are going to
be... put it together. I prefer..." See: On Education, Is
Akufo-Addo Doing A 419? Part One - ModernGhana.com
http://www.modernghana.com/news/384819/1/on-education-is-akufo-addo-doing-a-419-part-one.html
Up till now we are yet to hear an exact figure from the NPP! They
have not figured it out, as per the correction recently posted by the
Danquah Institute!
So, on Education, whatever weight one gives to it
in terms of grading, from 10 - 60%, the NPP scores zero! On
Agriculture, what the NPP really scores is worse than a mere zero! It
is like a student writing his or her confessions of a crime. What the
teacher needs to do is not to award a zero only, but a moral and
legal obligation to call the police because of the gargantuan nature
of the crime. One issue that they need to be taken on very strongly
is the party's Manifesto 2012 and what it says about Agriculture. You
do not need to read the entire manifesto to take a high profile
action on this particular issue. There is a threat at this day and
age by the NPP to inundate the four bread basket regions of Ghana
with genetically modified crops. This is a clear sign that they are
either "useful idiots" or they do not have the fate of
Ghanaians at heart.
As a petition calling for the dismantling of
Monsanto explains:
"Why this is important: Monsanto's pesticides
kill bees, disrupt ecosystems, pollute rivers and groundwater and are
the source of a number of cancers and malformations. It has been
scientifically proven (see photo) that GMOs are responsible for the
development of cancer." It has been proven time and again that
agro-ecological methods of agriculture provide the appropriate tools
to resist the climate change and the severe weather conditions
associated with it. These methods require the use of manure and other
readily available organic materials instead of dependence of imported
fertilizers, improved seeds, pesticides, and other toxic compounds
which are invariably capital intensive, socially exclusive,
environmentally degrading, and corporate dominated model of
agriculture.
The Petition is no doubt, referring to the recent
publication of the first peer-reviewed long term study of the
toxicity of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide and a Roundup tolerant
genetically modified maize, which shows that corn from Monsanto's
improved seeds causes tumours, organ damage, and pre-mature death!
That is why this is a big deal! Naturally, we have already asked the
NPP "to clarify the nature of the agricultural mandate they plan
to execute, if voted into power, as stated in their Manifesto for
Election 2012, Chapter Three: Section 7. Modernizing Our Agriculture
and Ensuring Food Security." The claims in its 2012 Manifesto,
as their plans for Ghana’s agriculture must ring alarm bells: NPP's
"Improved seeds" allow neo-colonial takeover of Ghana's
agriculture! Is the NPP asking for the mandate of Ghanaians to
introduce Genetically Modified seeds into our food chain? That is the
question!
Here is an excerpt from the relevant section in
their Manifesto 2012, Chapter Three: Section 7. Modernizing Our
Agriculture and Ensuring Food Security:
“Agriculture is considered to be an anchor of
Ghana’s economy, and is estimated to creating value of
approximately 14.2 billion dollars (roughly 23.9% of the 20141 GDP)
and employs approximately, 4.6 million 56% of the workforce. However,
the sector lacks sophistication and is dominated by subsistence
farmers. Approximatively, three million small-holder farmers with
average far sizes between 0,5-2 hectares currently produce 95% of the
country's food crops. Further, as indicated by the Ministry of
Agriculture and AGRA. Ghana faces increasing food security challenges
in the near future. This is due to the pervasively fragmented value
chain, inefficiency, and obsolete farming techniques and equipment in
the sector.
Our total agricultural land is 13.6 million
hectares, however only 7.3 million hectares are under cultivation
with less than 35, 000 under irrigation as at 2010.
Modernizing agriculture is fundamental to our
programme of transformation and Ghana needs a breakthrough in
agriculture to achieve self-sufficiency in in our food supply,
particularly in grains, fish, and meat. Currently, we are only
achieving 30% of our rice needs for example, while we have the
potential to be 75% self-sufficient. Our farmers are significantly
strained by a number of transversal interventions such as expensive
and unavailable inputs, poor infrastructure, expensive financing,
obsolete techniques and equipment and poor policy support. For
example fertilizer usage in Ghana is only eight kilograms per hectare
as compared to 20 kilograms per hectare in Asia. Less than 50% of
farmers use fertilizers and when available, it is at high cost.
Improved seeds are generally not available and are also at a high
cost. Farm roads are bad and credit is too expensive when available."
[See: Full Document]: NPP launches 2012 Manifesto
| General News › 2012-08-29. For those unaware of the significance
of the words “improved seeds” and “AGRA” on the same page
talking about the “modernization of agriculture”, you could be
excused if that does not raise an alarm.
AGRA means "Alliance for a Green Revolution
in Africa (AGRA)", - "a widely hailed U.S. philanthropic
effort backed by major foundations, has pushed the promotion of a
technology-based agricultural revolution to the forefront of policy
debate for the continent. Launched in September 2006 as a joint
initiative between the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, AGRA expands on the Rockefeller
Foundation’s Green Revolution in Africa Initiative. Founded with an
initial commitment of $100 million from the Gates Foundation and
another $50 million from the Rockefeller Foundation, today AGRA is
the biggest grantee of the Gates Foundation. With over $262 million
committed, AGRA is poised to become one of the main institutional
vehicles for changing African agriculture."
It has been noted that “The appointment of key
staff at the Gates Foundation is also indicative of the direction
that AGRA intends to steer agriculture in Africa. In 2006, the Gates
Foundation appointed Dr. Robert Horsch as the Senior Program Officer
in the Global Development Program, which directly supervises the AGRA
initiative. Horsch came to the foundation after 25 years on the staff
of the Monsanto Corporation, one of the world’s biggest
biotechnology multinationals and one of the most aggressive promoters
of GM crops. At Monsanto, Horsch was the Vice-President for Product
and Technology Cooperation, later Vice-President for International
Development Partnership, and also a member of the team that developed
Monsanto’s YieldGard, Boll-Gard, and RoundUp Ready technologies."
Furthermore, it has to be clear to all that we must not only depend
upon the good reputation of Mr. Kofi Annan alone in making life and
death decisions of far reaching consequences. Indeed, as commented
upon at the time by Voices From Africa:
"The appointment of Kofi Annan as AGRA’s
chairman was a strategic decision that the Gates Foundation made to
silence criticisms that its agricultural development agenda was a
“White Man’s Dream for Africa.” In fact, this more reeks of
Monsanto’s campaign: “Let the Harvest Begin.” Launched in 1998
to gain acceptance of GE crops around the world by projecting the
benefits of the Green Revolution in Asia and its potential in Africa,
Monsanto’s campaign managed to draw several respected African
leaders, such as Nelson Mandela, to speak for a new Green Revolution
in Africa. In response, all of the African delegates (except South
Africa) to the UN Food and Agriculture Negotiations on the
International Undertaking for Plant Genetic Resources in June 1998
issued a counter statement, “Let Nature’s Harvest Continue.”
The delegates clearly stated their objection to multinational
companies’ use of the image of the poor and hungry from African
countries to push technology that is not safe, environmentally
friendly, or economically beneficial." Voices From Africa:
African Farmers & Environmentalists Speak Out Against a New
Green Revolution in Africa.
In "Why is Kofi Annan Fronting For Monsanto?
The GMO Assault On Africa", Crossed Crocodiles writes: "Kofi
Annan has joined with President Obama, Monsanto, AGRA, and the Gates
foundation to promote and execute food aid that replaces bags of
wheat, rice and corn (agricultural dumping) with bags of pesticides,
herbicides, chemical fertilizers and genetically engineered seeds.
The end result will be to starve people in Africa and feed
corporations in the US and Europe." The NPP as a political party
is vulnerable to all sorts of external influences which often do not
coincide with our national interests as a people. Here, in our humble
opinion, is the most serious threat they have ever posed to the good
people of Ghana.
This is a matter that must concern everyone who
eats food! This is an issue of life and death of Ghanaians in their
thousands and millions from generation unto generation! If people are
unaware, there is new evidence that so-called "improved seeds"
or GM seeds from Monsanto "Cause Tumors, Organ Damage, and
Premature Death in Rats"! Only a few weeks ago, on the 21st of
September, 2012, the European Commission asked the European Food
Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma, Italy, to look into a study which
found that corn from Monsanto's improved seeds causes tumors, organ
damage, and premature death.
This is going on at a time the NPP is busily
telling Ghanaians to embrace the so-called "improved seeds"
from the Frankenstein food industry. Only yesterday, French Prime
Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that the High Council for
Biotechnology (HCB) and the Agency for Food, Environmental and
Occupational Health & Safety have been asked to look into the
study, headed by Gilles-Eric Séralini of the University of Caen and
published by Food and Chemical Toxicology this week. If the results
are confirmed, Ayrault said at a meeting in Dijon, agriculture
minister Stéphane Le Foll would defend France's right within the
European Union to ban GM crops. Three committees in France's National
Assembly will invite Séralini for hearings, Le Figaro reported
recently. The news coming in says "Russia has temporarily
suspended the import and sales of Monsanto Co. (MON)’s
genetically-modified NK 603 corn until the country gets further
information on the safety of the products, the consumer safety
watchdog said.
The watchdog, known as Rospotrebnadzor, asked
scientists at Russia’s Institute of Nutrition to review a French
study, which raised questions about the long-term effect of St.
Louis-based Monsanto’s NK 603 corn on rats, according to a
statement on Rospotrebnadzor’s website yesterday. Please see:
Russia Suspends Import of Monsanto Corn on Health Concerns. What do
you say to the NPP which is seeking the mandate of Ghanaians to
inundate our breadbaskets in all the four regions with GM crops and
food? Please consult the New Patriotic Party NPP Manifesto for
Election 2012, Chapter Three: Section 7. Modernizing Our Agriculture
and Ensuring Food Security: [Full Document]: NPP launches 2012
Manifesto | General News › 2012-08-29.
What can explain this strange behaviour of the
NPP? Has this got something to do with the secret meeting held at the
at the Hotel Hyatt & Resorts, located on 24 M Streets, Nw,
Washington, DC 20037 on Wednesday, June 4, 2008, arranged by The
Whitaker Group, whilst Akufo-Addo was supposedly on a fund-raising
tour in the United States? My suspicions that Monsanto, Du Pont, Star
Bucks, and a host of multinational corporations, including all the
ugly faces of American capitalism, were invited were confirmed by the
denial statement by Dr. Arthur Kennedy the then Chairman of the
Akufo-Addo Communications Committee, that no money had changed hands:
“Regarding the Whitaker Group event, no mention
was made by either Nana Akufo-Addo or the organisers or any member of
the delegation of finances for the campaign. Indeed the campaign is
fully aware of the laws of Ghana regarding soliciting funds from
non-Ghanaians for political purposes.
The group was made up of people with substantial
investments in Ghana and also of others who have an interest in
investing in Ghana. The meeting was therefore to afford Nana
Akufo-Addo the opportunity to explain his vision of transforming the
Ghanaian economy and creating a modern society. That was just what
happened at the meeting.”
See: General News of Sunday, 8 June 2008,
Rejoinder to Enquirer Story On Akufo-Addo's Trip:
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=145004
So why was the meeting a secret, if it was not meant to rip us off?
Is this manifesto a proof of the “mutually
beneficial co-operation” between the NPP flag-bearer and Monsanto?
Forward Ever! Backwards Never! Long live Ghana!
Nana Akyea Mensah, The
Odikro.
Give me a follow on twitter: twitter.com/TheOdikro
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