Maize Factory inaugurated at Tumu in Sissala East, U/West Region In an effort to produce fortified maize flour to curb malnutrition among children under five years and lactating mothers, a factory has been inaugurated at Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality of the Upper West Region. The factory which has an 800-metric-ton capacity warehouse was set up through a 50/50 collaboration between KEDAN Limited and West Africa Food Markets (WAFM) Challenge Fund Competition funded by the Department for International Development (DFID)/UKaid. Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria are the focus countries of the WAFM program and agribusiness entities in the four countries that meet the eligibility criteria take part in the competition and luckily, KEDAN won the WAFM round 2 challenge fund hence the establishment of the factory as one of the key performance indicators. According to GBC’s Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo, the move to process maize and to produce fortified flour from the cereal to curb malnutrition, is in keeping with SDG ‘2’ which says “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.” The Team leader of WAFM, Dr. Terence Lacey said about 10.6 million people in the ECOWAS sub-region do not have enough food. He continued that though the number of people suffering food insecurity is an enormous challenge for ECOWAS, on the flip side it is a big opportunity for Ghana, especially agri-processing companies and farmers in the country. Dr. lacey stated that KEDAN which had partnered a number of collaborators including WAFM, SADA and GCAP is well positioned to play a key role in value addition as well as enhancing cross border trade. He said because of the problems facing Nigeria in the north-eastern part and Niger, in the south-east and parts of the Sahel, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP) among others are trying to help by bringing additional food from outside. The WAFM Team Leader was of the conviction that the food should come from outside, saying “we believe that it should be produced by farmers in West Africa and processed by companies in West Africa.” Dr. Lacey commended farmers in the country for being the foundation on which Ghana is growing and stressed the necessity for the tempo to be increased in terms of production and value addition. The CEO of KEDAN Limited, Eric Dankwa Kissi announced that his outfit provided tractor mechanization services to 850 farmers in the 2017 cropping season to cultivate two thousand acres of maize in the Sissala East District. He said with the factory in place, farmers in the catchment area are assured of a reliable market source on yearly basis for more than seven thousand metric tons of their produce which amounts to injecting ten million, 516 thousand and 666 Ghana Cedis into the local economy via farmers. Mr. Kissi appealed to the government to tar the Wa-Tumu-Bolgatanga road, portions of which are in very bad shapes to boost economic activity on that corridor. The CEO of KEDAN was very thankful to individuals and organizations that have helped him to bring into fruition “an idea that began about 18 years ago.” It came to the fore at the function that KEDAN Limited managed to double the capacity of the factory initially agreed between it and WAFM which was 15 metric tons per a day to 30 metric tons per a day by injecting additional capital over the years. The Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Amidu Chinnia Issahaku praised the CEO KEDAN and his team for actualizing the mantra that “the private sector is the engine of growth.” Alhaji Issahaku enumerated some measures the government had put in places to create an enabling environment for the private sector to grow. He said the price of electricity has been reduced drastically for factories and industries to expand their business and create more jobs whilst corporate tax has also been brought down to between two and five percent for new businesses. The Deputy Regional Minister stated that under the 1D1F policy, any private organization which is importing machinery into Ghana to support its factory will not pay duty. The Paramount Chief of Tumu and Member of the Council of State, Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton was happy that the Sissala East Municipality is hosting a factory ahead of the roll-out of the one district, one factory. Kuoro Kanton entreated his people to give all the needed support to KEDAN Limited for it to succeed to encourage others to invest in the area. The Zonal Coordinator of the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (GCAP), Bloomfield Crosby Attipoe who represented the Project Coordinator of GCAP, Charles Nornoo traced the relationship between GCAP and KEDAN which started in 2014. Mr. Attipoe said “KEDAN stands out as a clear testimony to GCAP’s success in acting as a Change Agent, adding that he was hopeful that KEDAN will continue to carry along the out-growers in its growth. He announced that GCAP provided a total of 150 thousand Dollars as a Matching grant support to KEDAN then known as Heritage to develop 68 hectares to expand engagement of out-growers, construct a 500-metric ton capacity warehouse as well as technical assistance to build capacity of staff. The MP for Sissala East Ridwan Abass Dauda was equally impressed with what he termed “the initiative and efforts of KEDAN Limited” and encouraged the management of the factory to go into the production of animal feed to support those in the poultry sub-sector in the Municipality. The Coordinator for Agric, Northern Development Authority, Abass Karim Nyo advised farmers to understand the use of agro chemicals well before applying them to avoid a situation where chemical residue will be in their products. The MCE for Sissala East, Karim Nanyua announced that plans were afoot to revamp the Tumu Cotton Ginnery as part of efforts to give job to the youth. The Sissala East Municipal Director of Agriculture, Clement Kawuribi indicated that the opening of the facility has brought what he described as “a greater relief to the Department of Agriculture and hard working farmers.” The event which was chaired by Prof. Roger Kanton was graced by high profile personalities like, the Paramount Chief of Gwollu, Kuoro Kuri-Buktie Limann and the CEO of Agroserve Industrie-Ouagadougou, Siaka Sanon. A number of people the GBC interacted with in Tumu during and after the inauguration of the factory we excited that KEDAN Limited has risen up to the challenge of creating an agribusiness hub at the countryside for small holder farmers to surmount the challenges associated with disposing of their produce after harvest. Story by GBC’s Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo GBCONLINE ---DECRYPTED---