Pigbengben pregnant women denied timely access to healthcare

The people of Pigbengben in Wa West District are concerned about inability of their pregnant women and children to access timely healthcare services due to lack of a treatment centre.

Both patients and other travellers had to trek more than seven kilometres on a bumpy road, either to access healthcare or additional social services, in adjoining communities, according to local residents.

The situation, even becomes terrible during raining season during which the muddy road becomes slippery and put several passengers and other road users at a greater risk.

Speaking with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Pigbengben, a resident, Madam Aishatu Yakubu, complained that pregnant women had to be transported in a tricycle to neighbouring health centre to receive skilled delivery services.

Pigbengben is a farming community with more than 700 inhabitants, but it is deprived of basic infrastructure and social amenities, notably health centre, motorable road network and school.

Despite the absence of health facility, community leaders have made it a policy that any pregnant woman who delivered at home would be fined, at least GH¢200.00.

Madman Aishatu recalled an instance of one night when the wife of a local chief in labour was carried on Motor king (tricycle), which broke down on the way, putting the patient in serious danger.

She said the pregnant woman was successfully carried to the Vieri Health Centre for safe delivery, but others where not that lucky.

To her, the only lasting solution to their plight was for the community to have a health facility but unfortunately their persistent cry over the years have yielded no response from authorities.

“We have been crying for CHPS Compound for a very long time but our cry is not heard,” she said.

The community members have decided to contribute GH¢20.00 each for men and GH¢10.00 for women to construct their own structure without relying on political authorities.

A community leader, Mr Yakubu Ankah, decried the absence of health facility for the growing community and the transportation of pregnant women on tricycle.

He said there was an instance where a woman was being transported to the nearby facility but unfortunately the baby died along the way.

He said the horrible experience provoked their decision to initiate the self-help project to construct a health facility for themselves.

According to him, the District Chief Executive had pledged to help the community with roofing sheets and cement towards the completion of the structure but appeared to have reneged on his promise.

“Since he came and gave us that promise, he never came back here. And he has not told us anything too. But the woods are there, they are getting rotten,” Mr Ankah said.

The Wa West DCE, Mr Edward Laabiri Sabo, earlier told the press at Wechiau that materials for the completion of the self-help project were ready, but did not say when it would be delivered to the community.

Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires that countries signatories to the goals, achieve good health and well-being for its citizens by 2030.

Ghana has been implementing the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) concept to ensure timely access to primary healthcare to the people in efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

In spite of this initiative, access to healthcare service in many communities still remain a privilege rather than a right.

Published on GNA

Farmers in Lawra Municipal welcome improved seed varieties

Farmers in Lawra Municipality in the Upper West Region have expressed their contentment with the introduction of better-quality seed varieties geared towards improving farming activities and raising the economic status of farmers.

The varieties that include ‘wandata’ and ‘sinzasima’ maize; ‘fava’ soybeans, ‘wankai’ cowpea, ‘yenyaoso’ groundnuts; sorghum and sweet potatoes, have been certified by agriculturalist as early maturing and high yielding.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at a farm demonstration for the new crop varieties at Babile Agricultural Satiation in the Lawra Municipality, Mr Naakpi Kuubenang, a farmer from Lawra, said the varieties would greatly help farmers because they have a short maturity period.

“We now have new seeds which can yield within 75 to 90 days, so if we still depend on the old seeds we will lose because the rains are not reliable”, he said. 

Madam Augustine Sookutaa, also a farmer at Babile, said if the new varieties are being planted according to laid down agronomic practices with appropriate fertilizer application and weeding, there would be increased gains in produce.

“The new seed they brought, if you sow it, weed and apply the appropriate amount of fertilizer it will help you. This one is more beneficial than the old ones. When you sow it doesn’t reach four months before maturing, so I prefer the new one to the old one”, she said.

Mr Dangana Mahama, the Babile Agricultural Satiation Manager in charge of Crops, said the introduction of the improved crop varieties is in line with the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ programme to boost the agriculture sector.

Besides their high yielding and early maturing features, he said, the new seed varieties are also climate resilient and could resist drought and diseases.

“These are crops that we need to adopt so that we don’t grow one crop for a very long time, the system now is dynamic, things are changing every time with pests and diseases, environmental and climate change issues”, he said.

Mr Mahama said the exercise is being carried out in agriculture stations countrywide and farmers would be trained on planting, fertilizer application and harvesting to effectively manage their farms and derive maximum benefits.

Mr Martin Bomba-Ire, the Lawra Municipal Chief Executive, said the PFJ programme is meant to reduce hanger and improve livelihoods of farmers in the country adding that the effort is progressing steadily in the municipal areas.

He urged farmers to adopt the new improved seed varieties in order to reap more yields.

published on the GNA

FDA condemns irresponsible disposal of expired products

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has warned the public against the irresponsible disposal of unwholesome products such as expired household chemical substances saying this is against the Public Health Act (851) of 2012.

Section 132 (3) and (4) of the Act states that, “A person shall not dispose an unwholesome regulated product without the supervision of the Authority”.

It adds that, “A person who contravenes subsection (3) shall pay a fine of not more than five thousand penalty units to the Authority”.

The Act states that individuals and companies are mandated to dispose off those products in consultation with the FDA to ensure that the public did not have access to them either to be consumed or sold to the unsuspecting public. 

Mr Albert Ankomah, the Upper West Regional Director of FDA, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa Thursday that some boxes of Shine Double Concentrated Tomato Paste were being disposed at Siriyiri waste landfill last Monday, September 2, 2019 without informing the FDA.

“We had information that somebody had gone to dispose of Shine Double Concentrated Tomato Paste in plastic sachets at the Siriyiri refuse dump,” he said: “When we had the complaint we quickly moved in there and we observed that the tomato in paper cartons were scattered and the FDA had to gather them and then dispose them”.

He said the FDA is collaborating with the regional Police Command to investigate the matter and take appropriate action against the perpetrators of the act.

Mr Ankomah said the products were near their expiration date but that they were disposed of due to poor storage which led to blotting and leakage of the products and could not be sold to the public.

Mr Ankomah warned that any person or company caught disposing of unwholesome products illegally would be charged GHC 25,000.00 or prosecuted.

He appealed to dealers in household chemical substances, drugs, food products and other regulated products to contact the FDA for a certificate of destruction before destroying them.

Published on the GNA

Women, children at Siriyiri earn living from refuse dump site

Some women and children at the Siriyiri community in the Wa West District of the Upper West Region depend on a landfilled site at the community as their alternative source of livelihood.

They pick empty cans and metals from the site to sell as scraps to dealers who visit the community on daily basis to earn an income.

A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to the dump site spotted some women and children busily picking metals from the refuse to sell.

One of the women who refused to disclose her identity told the GNA that she had no other alternative source of income to cater for the educational and health needs of her children, hence, her decision to resort to picking the empty cans and metals from the refuse site to sell.

"I don't have any other work to do, so when I collect these things I sell them and I am able make between GH¢5.00 to GH¢10.00 a day.

“I have been doing this for about six years now. This is what I use to farm and pay for my children's school fees. I have five children two are married leaving three with me and my husband is dead", she added.

She said though she was aware of the health hazards associated with their activities, there was little she could do and appealed to government and benevolent organisations to come to their aid by providing them with alternative sources of income.

The Siriyiri landfill was acquired by the Wa Municipal Assembly and Zoomlion Ghana Limited, have been contracted to manage waste products in the municipality.

The residents of the community, particularly women and children, had access to the site because it was poorly managed, exposing them to sanitation-related diseases.

Published on GNA

Mango farmers call for government intervention to grow the sector

Some commercial mango farmers in Kintampo in the Bono East Region say mango cultivation has the potential to transform the nation’s economy.

They said despite the economic potential of the industry, government was prioritising other sectors such as cashew and cocoa cultivation whilst relegating mango farming to the background.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Wa, Mr Caleb Kofi Bleboo, Outgrowers Coordinator at Sky 3, a production and aggregation company in Kintampo, noted that mango had gained global recognition as the “king of all fruits”.

“We have a lot of mango fruits, what we have realised is that Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and government are paying more attention to rubber, cashew and cocoa.

“But, this time round, we want to advocate that authorities and NGOs that are in Ghana should come and help us grow the sector to its full potential,” Mr Bleboo said.

The commercial mango farmers therefore appealed to government and the private sector to give maximum attention to mango production by supporting the farmers in order for the country to benefit from the sector’s huge potential.

On his part, Mr Bismark Dei Commey, Business Development and Administrative Manager at Sky 3, said a tone of mango was sold at GH¢ 2000.00 while an acre of mango plantation could produce up to six tones.

He lamented that the sector was bedeviled with numerous challenges including disease infestations and lack of ready market for the produce, claiming that the economic benefit of mango to the nation could surpass that of cocoa if it had the necessary attention.

“There is no guarantee market for mangoes, the farmer will go through a lot of agronomic practices at the end expecting to get price for the good quality mangoes that he has cultivated but to no avail,” he indicated.

Mr Commey added that some farmers in the industry have no practical experience in the field and thus needed to be equipped with the required skills to enable them produce good quality fruits for both the local and international markets.

Madam Veronica Aboagye, a mango farmer in Kintampo, lamented that she entered into mango cultivation with joy about ten years ago, but now she is discouraged by the challenges and government’s apathy towards the sector.

“We started the farming with joy because we didn’t know of the challenges … but we don’t get support from anybody, government should come to our aid, the chemicals used for spraying is expensive, the spraying machines are also expensive,” she lamented.

The farmers also appealed to the government, the private sector and other stakeholders to establish mango processing companies in the country to process the fruits into finished products as part of efforts to promote the sector.

Published on GNA

CIKOD fighting climate change through Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration of Trees

Danniel Banuoku, Deputy Director, CIKOD North

The Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD) has been
campaigning against climate change and its negative impact on livelihoods and agriculture through the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) to grow trees.

Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration of trees is the practice adopted by farmers to groom and nurture younger trees growing on their fields rather than destroying them for the purpose of farming.

It emerged that some farmers destroyed trees on their fields during land preparation which contributed significantly to the adverse climate change variability such as irregular rainfall pattern and rise in temperature, which had negative impact on society.

In an interview with Mr Danniel Banuoku, the Deputy Director for CIKOD North, he noted that CIKOD had trained about 5000 farmers in the Lawra Municipal and Nandom District to adopt agro-ecological agriculture including FMRN as part of the campaign.

He said his organisation had also supported farmers in some communities in Lawra Municipal and Nandom District including: Pavuu, Ermong, Goziiri and Koo communities among others to reclaim about 100 acres of degraded land through the FMNR as part of the climate mitigation strategies.

“There are also issues to deal with mitigation element, so FMNR is what is helping the communities to regenerate degraded landscapes by ensuring owning and taking care of trees and improving community eco systems.

So we are looking at this mitigation measures in two approaches; first we have dedicated some degraded landscapes and we are working to regenerate those landscapes”, he explained.

Mr Banuoku stated that predictitons of about three to five per cent rise in temperature, particularly in the Sub-Sahara Africa between 2020 and 2050 posed live threat to the world and warned that if measures were not put in place to avert the trend the rise could be higher.

The impact of climate change, he said, could lead to decline in agriculture production resulting in food insecurity, rising temperature leading and region specific impacts such as drier land and water bodies in Sub-Sahara Africa and rising sea levels in parts of the Western World as well as disease epidemic among others.

Mr Banuoku therefore noted that they were encouraging farmer-to-farmer training on Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration of tress to inculcate into them, the habit of tree growing to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change.

He observed that another worrying situation was the prediction of an expansion of the desert of about three kilometres annually to the coast, a situation he noted, could be detrimental in the near future.

Mr Banuoku explained that Burkina Faso, for instance, was already faced with the effects of climate change – high temperature of about 40 degrees, drier lands and less rainfall among others.

This he said, had prompted farmers to adopt climate resilient strategies such as the “half moon”, “stone lines with strips of grasses” and “zai” methods of farming to maximise both the meagre rains they experienced and soil fertility to increase food production.

He added that the government of Burkina Faso had prioritised irrigation farming through the construction of dams to counter the limited rainfall of three months maximum, which the country currently experienced.

Mr Banuoku therefore indicated that there was the need for the government, the private sector and development partners to join force to revert the glaring threat of climate change on the environment and the lives of the people.

The CIKOD Deputy Director added that his organisation had been engaging communities to develop community disaster plans to help counter climate change related disasters through which eight communities in the Lawra Mucipal and Nandom Districts of the Upper West Region had been supported to develop those pans.

Published on www.modernghana.com

138 communities in Upper West declared ODF in six months

A total of 138 communities in the Upper West Region have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) from January to June 2019, bringing the total number of ODF communities in the Region to 674.

All the 88 communities in the Nandom District were ODF whilst 156 out of 227 communities in the Wa West District were also ODF; Nadowli/Kaleo had 103 of its 141 communities being ODF while 78 out of 105 communities in the Daffiama/Bussie/Issa (DBI) were ODF.

The rest were Lawra Municipal, 71 out of 94; Wa East District 48 out of 138; Lambussie District 45 out of 58; Jirapa Municipal 37 out of 116; Sissala West District 31 out of 55; Sissala East 10 out of 59; and Wa Municipal Seven out of 86 communities were ODF.

The Upper West Regional Coordinating Council, Municipal and District Assemblies as well as other stakeholders and partners in the sanitation sector had set 2021 for the Region to attain ODF status ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of 2030.

Mr Alhassan Inusah Agambire, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of the Upper West Regional Environmental Health and Sanitation Department, revealed this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Wa on Tuesday.

He said the achievement within the period was not encouraging and attributed it to the indifferent attitude of some community folks to sanitation issues.

He added that even though rains had set in, it could not be a justification for the poor results of the ODF campaign.

“The RBF has given opportunity to the districts to enter into more communities. Funding is not a problem but some communities are not complying, they don’t even show concern when we go there,” Mr Agambire noted.

He however said the department was not relenting on its efforts to ensure that the Region attained ODF status by 2021, and appealed to the community folks to embrace the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) concept and to refrain from defecating in the open.

Published on www.hananewsagency.org