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By Michael Kofi Kenetey Artisanal palm oil processors in Ghana have, over the past years, been confronted with numerous challenges affecting their productivity, including lack of skills and techniques, absence of environmental management systems, inadequate financial support, and poor waste management systems, among others. It is as a result of these challenges that NIRAS International Consulting and Proforest have decided to organize a four-day training on environmental management in small-scale enterprises in the palm oil processing industry for artisanal palm oil processors at Akyem Kusi, a community near Kade in the Kwaebibirem Municipality of the Eastern Region. In an exclusive interview during a visit to the area, the National President of the Oil Palm Development Association of Ghana, Paul Kwabena Amaning, called for investment in the sector to boost productivity and create jobs for the teeming youth. The training is a project being implemented by NIRAS International Consulting and Proforest under the Ghana Private Sector Competitiveness Program Phase Two, initiated through a bilateral initiative between the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and the Government of Ghana. The program aims to improve the enabling environment for the cashew and oil palm sectors and contribute to higher private sector productivity and competitiveness by fostering inclusive and sustainable growth through enhanced trade and competitiveness. The training brought together selected palm oil processors in the country with the objective of improving environmental, social, and economic performance through the preparation and implementation of an environmental management system for palm oil processing centres. Participants were taken through environmental management systems, regulatory requirements during processing, and the triple planetary crisis in the palm oil value chain, which includes climate change, pollution, and loss of biodiversity and ecosystems. In an exclusive interview with GBC News during the training, the National President of the Oil Palm Development Association of Ghana, Paul Kwabena Amaning, noted that the training would equip processors with environmental standards, practices, and processes to ensure the production of contamination-free and safe palm oil for consumption and processing. Mr. Amaning welcomed the government’s decision to invest in palm oil production in the country, adding that massive investment in the sector would help create over 600,000 jobs for the youth. An Agribusiness Expert at NIRAS International Consulting, Jane Bech Larsen, mentioned access to finance, energy, and skills as some major challenges confronting the processors, hence their decision to organize the training to help improve productivity and quality. She noted that the training is to promote skill development and provide processors with grants to increase productivity. The Finance Administrator and Grants Officer for the Ghana Private Sector Competitiveness Program, Agartha Asare, noted that their aim is to support the processors in terms of skills, certification, and equipment enhancement. She reiterated that they engage with ministries, departments, and agencies, as well as the Tree Crops Development Authority, to regulate the processors. Madam Asare mentioned smuggling as one of the key issues affecting the palm oil sector and appealed to the government to help address it. Source link
