The unveiling of a new technology designed to supply continuous water to local cocoa farms throughout the year and the honouring 14 policemen who died in the course of duty this year are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that a new technology designed to supply continuous water to local cocoa farms throughout the year to mitigate the effects of climate change on cocoa production in Ghana has been launched.
The Solar Drift Irrigation System — being introduced by Mondelez International, implementors of the Cocoa Life Programme — is also intended to triple the country’s annual cocoa yield.
It is designed to supply consistent water to the cocoa farms of the over 70,000 farmers operating under the Cocoa Life Programme.
With this technology, cocoa farmers will be able to produce throughout the season and will not have to wait for rainfall to determine their annual yields.
At the inauguration of the first pilot project of the technology at Otwebediedua in the Eastern Region, the Head of Cocoa Life in Ghana, Mrs, Yaa Peprah Amekudzi, said the new technology would ensure that cocoa got the required litres of water needed for high yields throughout the year.
The newspaper says that 14 policemen who died in the course of duty this year were immortalised by the Ghana Police Service at the 2020 Police Memorial Day event in Accra yesterday.
The solemn and sombre ceremony to honour the policemen posthumously took place at the National Police Training College at Tesano and was attended by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
President Akufo-Addo lit the perpetual flame and laid a wreath at the Cenotaph.
Similar events took place simultaneously in all the regional police commands in the country.
The ceremony to immortalise policemen who die in the course of duty is held annually, the first of which took place in 2014.
While 10 of the 14 policemen met their untimely deaths through motor accidents, two got drowned, while another two died from gunshots fired accidentally.
The Graphic also reports that the Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama, has said that the next NDC government will earmark specific grazing zones and construct water bodies for cattle.
That, he said, would end the regular confusion that erupted between Fulani herdsmen and farmers as a result of complaints of the destruction of farmers’ crops by cattle.
He said it would construct modern cattle markets and abattoirs in Buipe and Accra to create easy access to markets for herdsmen as well as improve on livestock trade in the country.
“Population growth in the country has created a situation that has restricted areas that were formerly grazing areas of cattle so most of these areas are being used for residential purposes, so now the animals don’t get place to graze and this is one of the reasons why there is often confusion between herdsmen and the public, especially farmers, so we intend to earmark grazing zones for them to curb this menace,” he noted.
He was speaking at the ninth annual prayer and conference of the Tabital Pulaaku International, an association of Fulanis in the Country in Buipe last Saturday, on the theme “Peaceful Prayer Towards Election 2020 and Beyond”.
The event brought together Fulanis with the view of drumming home the need for peace as the country goes to the polls on December 7, 2020, as well as draw attention to some disturbing developments against the Fulanis and measures that would result in behavioural change and protection for the fundamental human rights of Fulanis in Ghana.
The Times says that the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has intensified calls for the arrest and prosecution of killers of slain investigative journalist, Ahmed Suale of Tiger Eye Private Investigation fame.
The call comes as the country joins the rest of the world to mark this year’s International Day to end impunity for crimes against journalists.
The President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr. Roland Affail Monney, opined that the surest way to end attacks on journalists and repose public confidence in the security forces was to bring perpetrators of the crime to book.
He said this at a Forum orgnaised by the GJA together with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
The newspaper also reports that the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is spearheading a four-year partnership project, which seeks to apply water-smart solutions such as recycling to recover resources from waste water for reuse.
To achieve this objective and ensure sustainability, the Council on Friday engaged key stakeholders at a workshop in Accra, to provide them with information on the project so they could contribute ideas, policies and strategies towards achieving a successful outcome.
The participants were from key institutions, including the Energy Commission, Ghana Standards Authority, Food and Drugs Authority, farmer associations, and the CSIR.
Dr. Wilhelmina Quaye, the Director, CSIR–Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI), welcoming participants, said the use of untreated streams by urban vegetable and other small-scale farmers posed a great health threat to consumers, as the unwholesome water contained harmful pathogens and this had various health implications.
She said effective collaboration with stakeholders was, therefore, crucial to the success of the project.
GIK/APA