The Blog of Yaw Adu-Gyamfi

Suntreso is an estate in Kumasi just down south of the famous Bantama township. Built by the then State Housing Company in the 1960′s, it is split into two- north and south Suntreso. Mainly built as a middle class neighbourhood, it was named after a river-Suntre,located along the banks of the river, it was named Sntreso- to wit, on the Suntre river.

Operation Feed Yourself (OFY),an agricultural policy introduced under the military government of Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong in 1972 and mainly championed by Commissioner for Agriculture Colonel Frank Bernasko had made sure that most households across Ghana had a backyard garden and also kept some fruit trees. At Suntreso, this practice was religiously adhered to and as such, every household had a backyard garden, with flowers and fruit tress lining up the streets. The Suntre river was also beautifully lined up with trees to protect it from drying up. The river seemed even cleaner than pipe borne water then and served as an alternative source when the taps were not flowing. I recall several times growing up in the Suntreso neigbourhood where we use to fetch water for household chores and also found the outlining trees save havens to play and relax during the hot sunny afternoons. Children were mostly found moving from one backyard to the other gathering fruits and helping neighbours with their gardening.

The river also served as a good source of irrigation for vegetable farmers whose primary consumers were the Suntreso residents who had obviously developed a taste for vegetables.

However, with increasing neglect of the backyard gardens and the river, there are no vegetable farms and obviously very few gardens and safe havens for relaxation.

Current state of the Suntre river- neglected and highly polluted

Population increase not met with an equal number of housing units  meant that available plots for gardens had to be used for building projects. The river also suffered increasing pollution and neglect that led to cutting of the trees lining its banks leading to drying up of several sections of the river of the river.

A footbridge constructed over the river to allow ease of passage for residents

Hence, the once beautifully lined vicinity that helped give meaning to Kumasi as the Garden City of West Africa is now a pale shadow of itself and the Suntre river which gave the name to the neighbourhood is hardly recognizable. Ironically, buildings have also been sited on the banks of the river and in some serious cases sections of the river have been diverted or leveled with concrete for infrastructural development. However, a visit to the planning department of the Kumasi Metropolitan Authority depicts that the area has been earmarked as a green zone but planning officers haplessly look on as development continues.

Ghana’s quest at environmental sustainability will mean that rivers such as the Suntre and many others are given the requisite attention. As it is now, residents of Suntreso risk experiencing flooding due to the blocking of the runway for the river through haphazard development, a situation that has gotten residents extremely worried.

During a trip to Cote D’Ivoire in August 2010, I held discussions with two friends,one of whom is an alumni of Catholic University College of Ghana-CUCG, my alma mater. The discussions primarily centered on using student projects to respond proactively to socio-economic challenges in the Fiapre and larger Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. Held in a relaxed atmosphere at the dining table, I opted to lead efforts at developing the idea further by scheduling a meeting with the Vice Chancellor,Staff and Students of CUCG.

An idea that begun with friends asking questions as to how to give back to the school, also create an opportunity for students to implement projects to solve challenges while creating jobs for themselves, developed into the plan below.

Introduction

Job search for fresh graduates has always been frustrating in an economy that has wobbled over the past decades. Employers insist on job experience as criteria for selection, depriving young graduates of chances of being employed immediately after school. Internships, another avenue where students could gain valuable experience and skills has also become problematic as employers are not willing to take on students citing increasing operational cost. Therefore, in the mist of the gloom, what can be done to offset the situation and give young graduates meaningful opportunities while in school through the development and implementation of projects that will generate jobs for students after they graduate from the University.

As a means of giving back to the community in the Fiapre area and Brong Ahafo Region at large, the projects will be based in such areas. As transformative as the projects seek, business plans and solutions developed to solve developmental challenges of the communities will be selected from among student projects to be harnessed into viable social businesses.

Vision

At the University, Students take courses like business plan development, entrepreneurship and ICT projects in the third year. Those in the final year write dissertation, but both defend their idea in front of a panel or jury.

The idea is to select the best business proposal based on feasibility. It is our own lecturers who grade the students, so we are somehow assured that their judgment is more than 70% accurate. To make it more accurate, we can add professionals in different industries on the panel to have another look at the business plans and projects.

The team writing the business plan or working on the projects could be 5 students in number. At the end of their University course, they are going to implement their business plan and projects with the assistance of one or two appointed lectures and other professionals within knowledge in the  business or project area chosen. The aim is to place financial and technical resources at the disposal of the students whose business plan or project is chosen throughout the value chain of the business making sure that it succeeds and meets the expectation of impacting on the Fiapre community and the Brong Ahafo Region in General. Brong Ahafo is centrally located in Ghana and is one of ten Regions of Ghana.

Criteria of selection of the business plan

• Must take place in the brong Ahafo
• Not exceed a certain amount which will be determine by the University
• Employees are the 5 students and have the obligation to employ only Catholic University students
• An appointed lecture to supervise and maintain the good function of the program.

Financing projects

• Each student has to finance 10% of the starting capital
• The university has to finance the other 50% or
• The university finance 30% and a bank or financial institution  20% with Guarantee from the  University
• The shares of the company will be shared accordingly based on the percentage contributions
• The bank will be reimbursed and the money gained by the University will be kept for the next business plan.
• Alumni can be offered the possibility to be shareholders as well.

As Alumni we asked ourselves questions including the following;

How do students get jobs and valuable experience after graduating?

• Direct employment to be created from student business plans being implemented.
• Creation of viable opportunities for internships
• Creation of full time jobs once the business plan is developed.
• An avenue to gain experience in the field.

How to promote the University?

• Everybody goes to University with the hope to get a job after completing. It is a great opportunity and promotion for the University as it gives training, education and a job in the end.
• An avenue for interaction between academia, government and the private sector to promote economic growth
• The first University to innovate and to create direct job for  students in Ghana.

How can alumni and the university give back to the community?

• Projects will be cited in the area of operation of the University( Fiapre in the  Brong Ahafo Region)
• An opportunity for the University to implement major research work undertaken by students and faculty members.
• Focus on projects that target contemporary socio-economic challenges in the community

How can the University self finance new courses, improve student life on campus and increase facilities?

• Harnessing of profits from shares built up in the business established.
• Profits earned from the shares transferred from banks or other financial institutions with a stake in the projects.
• Attracting critical finance needed for interventionist research

Highlighting the project outlines to the stakeholders at CUCG, there was unanimous acceptance of the idea. The Vice Chancellor further adopted the project promising to implement an aspect that will encourage students to volunteer and gain valuable experience. In his own words, “volunteerism, whichever form it takes is rewarding especially if the intended impact is made with clear indicators”.

A tacit implication of buying into the project and being prepared to give it the needed backing.

Moving forward, what is needed now is getting lecturers to identity roles and setting out parameters and criteria for selecting projects- a work in progress, but I must say that I am impressed with the way discussions have gone so far. At the very least, advocacy has been done with all major stakeholders. What is needed now is implementation with an hands on deck approach.

When fully operational, such an intervention has the potential to address health, sanitation, environment, business and technology challenges faced by people in the Fiapre and the larger Brong Ahafo Region in general. Perhaps a way of getting students to take up leadership responsibilities and confront the challenges that abound in their own society’s.

Surely- a model worth spreading across Ghana!

Ghana has some amazing women who are engaged activities that survive their families, friends, communities, Ghana and Africa at large, some of whom I have privileged to meet and interact. On October 11th-14th 2010 in Accra at a Cluster Facilitation training, I met up with one of Ghana’s amazing women in Madam Stella Nitori. A strong spirited woman who had suffered stroke but continues to work hard seeking the development of women in Northern Ghana.

Madam Stella Nitori, a retired nurse/midwife and social worker, is the founder of Girls Growth and Development-GIGDEV. Consisting of four vocational schools, GIGDEV programmes cover income generating activities for marginalized girls, micro-enterprise development, securing livelihoods, gender, good governance, human rights, peace, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and networking.  The programme operates with a network of local committees made up of  members from District Assemblies, Traditional rulers, Opinion leaders, youth and women groups. The committees are accountable to the people they represent.  They oversee and monitor the programme at the local level and liaise with other development partners and agents to develop strategies for the development of their communities.  GIGDEV now offers babies of single teenage-mother trainees with childhood development training.

Additionally, Madam Nitori is involved in efforts at improving the quality of life for women engaged in Sheabutter production in Northern Ghana. The Tung Teiya Sheabutter Women Association-TUSEWA serves as the platform through which women in the Shea industry within 9  communities are mobilized to gain from support services. Such services are in the areas of processing techniques, marketing and financial scheme supported by major sheabutter buyer, Body Shop-UK. The financial scheme works such that, the premium price paid by Body Shop-UK is channeled through a system contributing to community development. The scheme encourages the women to operate bank accounts and are trained in book keeping and basic accounting, while some of the money is also used for community development projects such as provision of portable water, places of convenience etc. The training and projects undertaken ensures accountability and transparency in the use of money realized from the trade, Madam Nitori added.

women traditionally processing sheabutter

Listening to Madam Nitori at the sidelines of the Cluster Facilitation training, I was amazed at the strength and passion of this woman who discusses the future with hope. No wonder in a break out session where we worked together on an initial business plan for the Sheabutter Cluster she suggested that a slogan for outreach programs of the cluster should be “Tamaha Beini”, a Dagomba phrase that means “There is hope”. Working with Madam Nitori and Dr. Joshua Yidana of the University for Development studies-Tamale campus, we were able to come up with a draft operational plan to assist the Sheabutter Cluster in utilizing the triple helix approach of collaborating with Government, Academia and Industry to strengthen activities of the sector.

Further, we  developed as  a vision to be ” A leading producer of value added sheabutter in Ghana by 2015″ and a mission to ” Harness scientific and technical resources from knowledge institutions to produce quality sheabutter with least Free Fatty Acids (FFA’s) in Ghana.

It is with such audacity and hope that this laudable initiative was started and will continue. The triple helix approach will seek to encourage collaboration among  government agencies that provide services and implement policies towards sheabutter production so as to enable the women processors benefit from government support. Collaboration with academia will harness vital research information and innovative ideas for training and development while industry collaboration will promote marketing, expanding distribution channels as well as improving on the financial scheme for the women among others.

L-R Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, Madam Stella Nitori and Dr. Joshua Yidana

It is envisaged that the growth in the cluster will contribute to socio-economic development of women in the Shea industry and their dependents. And for Madam Nitori, a satisfaction of having contributed her quota in two ways after retirement from health and social work, to improve the lives of deprived girls with skills development and also leading efforts at sustaining the sheabutter industry in Northern Ghana.

I share with you all a letter written to the President of Ghana on how challenges of the Millennium Goals can be addressed.

N.39 T.Y. Gyamfi Road

North Suntreso –Kumasi

Office of the President

Osu Castle

Castle Road-Osu

Accra.

29^th September, 2010

Dear President,

IDEAS ON ADDRESSING CHALLENGES OF THE MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDG’S)

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) developed and signed in 2000 at the Millennium summit in New York were meant to primarily address issues of poverty inequality and human rights.

However, Ten years on, Ghana is still faced with enormous challenges in the areas of inadequate education of citizens and community ownership of solutions towards addressing issues of gender equality and women empowerment, environmental sustainability, improvement in maternal health and the reduction in child mortality.

Five years left to 2015 deadline, the commitment of more resources and the coordination of efforts that includes all hands on deck from all stakeholders is needed. This letter stresses a partnership with Traditional Authorities, Community Based Organizations and the Media as a means to drum home support for the MDG’s and hence, work effectively at addressing the challenges confronted. The challenges, mainly in the areas of;

1. A lack of stakeholder support
2. Infrastructural and equipment inadequacies
3. Low level of research into traditional plant medicine to address diseases that are mainly local
4. Lack of a coordinated approach in implementation of various interventions

Mr. President, the achievement of the MDG’s will require the development of a global partnership but more important is the development of a local partnership with local stakeholders. By local stakeholders, I mean Traditional Authorities, Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s)/ Community Based Organizations (CBO’s), Media and the very citizens with whom a social pact have been established by virtue of the 1992 constitution.

Partnership with Traditional Authorities will be to harness indigenous knowledge that stresses the sacredness and preservation of the environment for sustainability. Additionally, tradition and culture offers a platform for non-partisan/political community engagement where educational campaigns can be launched to address issues of gender equality and empowerment of women, access to education and also harness social capital in addressing pertinent issues spelt out in the MDG’s. The media can then be partnered to promote and highlight these campaigns for maximum impact. The social capital can also be used to address cultural and traditional practices that inhibit women empowerment with Traditional leaders being lead advocates.

Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s) and Community Based Organizations (CBO’s) can publically advocate for pressing development concerns, helping design strategies to meet each of the MDG targets, and monitoring and evaluating efforts to achieve the goals. International CSO’s can also mobilize and build awareness around the Goals, share best practices, technical expertise and deliver services directly.

However, CSO’s and CBO’s need political freedom, clear institutional support and role definitions to outline ways of partnering and implement programs. In some cases where the right support and synergies are put in place with all stakeholders CBO’s and CSO’s can share experiences and offer training and financial resources to compliment that of other stakeholders. Better coordination of efforts by District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies together with Traditional Authorities, CBO’s, CSO’s and the Media will ensure that parallel programs are not implemented and also guarantee sustainability.

The social partnership Ghana has with its citizens makes it more imperative to empower the youth through improved access to educational opportunities and skills development with science, technology and innovation at the forefront. In doing so, Mr. President, particular attention needs to be paid to the Suame Magazine Industrial cluster and the Kokomkpe Mechanical cluster where young people have shown albeit with little resources innovation in blacksmithing, metal fabrication and casting and the manufacture of tools and implements for agricultural, auto-mechanic and general industrial needs. Support to such clusters can be in the form of building machine tool factories to absolve the talented youth from where skills development training can be held with the view to getting them to manufacture the very machines imported for them to use.

To conclude, I will like to stress on the fact that, a partnership with Traditional Authorities, Community Based Organization’s and the Media will lead to enhanced education on the MDG’s.  When citizens are well educated, they will support the programs to be rolled out for effective implementation. Skills development for the youth will also get them off the streets and in the case of those in the industrial clusters harness their ingenuity for socio-economic development.

Mr. President, I know you are very busy working on challenges confronting Ghana and devising solutions with your team of advisors and development partners.

I thank you for sparing time to read this my humble letter.

With kind regards,

Yaw Adu-Gyamfi

Regional Director for Ghana

Student Projects Africa Network-SpanAfrica

www.spanafrica.org

yawg@spanafrica.org

+233-24-4480475

SpanAfrica has partnerships with five local organizations in Ghana working mainly in the areas of food security, afforestation, HIV/AIDS education and care, capacity development, advocacy and youth development. Even before these local organizations start benefiting from the full range of  Span’s portfolio of services there are plans on the ground helping some of them to forge local partnerships to collaborate on projects.

One of such fruitful partnerships has been that of the Agency for Health and Food Security (AHEFS) based in the historical town of Ntonso and the Indigenous North Suntreso club, a community based organization at North Suntreso. Ntonso where AHEFS is based is located on the outskirts of Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional Capital of Ghana. Ntonso is noted for the famous adinkra symbols(traditional symbols) with a rich history throughout the old kingdom of Asante and now due to its ever presence as patterns for clothes (Google ’adinkra symbols’ to find out more).  Suntreso where Indigenous club is located was name after the  Suntre river, with the town built on the banks of the river it is named Suntreso (so in twi means on), the name of the town means on the Suntre river.

But aside of all  this background history is an enduring partnership which is being harnessed by the two organizations to pool together resources in formulating solutions to some of the challenges that plague their environments. For Suntreso there is the issue of youth unemployment, urban poverty, pollution especially of the Suntre river and general and rising crime rate.

AHEFS with expertise in planting trees on degraded land and the management of the process of growing  trees that are of medicinal value has entered into a partnership with Indigenous to plant 1500 trees within the community in the short term in support of the greening Suntreso initiative project developed by Indigenous club as a response to threats posed by climate change. The medium term solution will be dredging of the Suntreso river which has be polluted over the years. Beyond beyond that,  additional trees to be planted along the banks and possibly erect a fence to prevent further pollution. Such an initiative as laudable as it is, offers sustainable environmental solution to the problem faced.

Similarly, plans are afoot t for Indigenous club to partner the Opportunities Industrialization Center(OIC), an international capacity building center with regional headquarters in Suntreso to train more of the youth in employable skills. This will in tun reduce the high rate of youth unemployment in the community.  More of such partnerships are being encouraged not just among SpanAfrica local organizations but with other corporate bodies and institutions to strengthen programs at the local level.