Beyond GH¢2.00 band-aid: Why Ghana must reimagine school feeding via Central Kitchens, PPPs by Chef Elijah Addo - NaijaAgroNet

The Government of Ghana deserves commendation for increasing the Ghana School Feeding Programme feeding grant from GH¢1.50 to GH¢2.00 per child per day. At a time when food inflation has eroded purchasing power and placed enormous pressure on caterers, this increase, alongside the removal of the tax component, signals the government’s continued commitment to protecting one of Ghana’s most important social protection programmes.

It is a positive decision.

Yet, if we are honest with ourselves, GH¢2.00 remains only a scratch on the surface of what is required to deliver nutritious, safe, and quality meals to over four million Ghanaian school children every school day . The challenge facing Ghana’s school feeding programme is no longer simply about increasing the feeding grant. It is about transforming the entire delivery model.

DMWA targets partnerships across West and Central Africa in oil & gas

NaijaAgroNet:

Oil and gas advisory, E&P and trading firm, has set up DMWA Resources to seek robust partnerships across the West and Central Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.

DMWA, NaijaAgroNet gathered, capitalized on the extensive African knowledge and experience of its management and the financial firepower of large institutions to become the partner of choice for Africa’s governmental and private oil & gas institutions.

NaijaAgroNet equally gathered that the company is the brainchild of Sebastian Wagner, who previously worked as Business Developer and Trading Operations Manager for Trafigura and associated firms, managing oil trades across the barrel of African crude and refined products while simultaneously pursuing pre-financing opportunities with West and Central African sovereigns.

Executive Director of the company, Mr. Wagner said, DMWA Resources is a knowledge and relationship-driven oil and gas advisory firm.

“Our African-specific expertise provides a strong platform to showcase our value in the markets where we seek to provide advisory services, acquire prospective acreages and specialize in the resale of crude oil, natural gas and refined products. We assist our private sector partners in the industry’s ongoing consolidation, as well as our governmental clients in their financial and knowledge-based recapitalization,” he said.

DMWA Resources is targeting various regions across Africa, including Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville and Ghana. The company offers a range of petroleum industry and fiscal advisory services and partners with world-class partners with the capacity to undertake E&P ventures in Africa's oil and gas sector. DMWA is built on a flat structure and is financially and structurally independent, which allows the company to partner with the energy industry’s heavyweights.

On June 6-7, 2016, DMWA will sponsor the Africa Oil & Power conference in Cape Town, South Africa, joining industry elites Gunvor Group, Marathon Oil, RoyalGate Energy, DeltaTek Group, General Electric and Centurion Law Group. DMWA will host a reception gathering African energy ministers, IOC’s, NOC’s and financial institutions. Mr. Wagner will moderate a Projects & Prospects Panel that discusses the reasons for success or failure of oil and gas projects in Africa’s competitive marketplace.

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

FF, AUC say leadership, partnership key for Africa’s agricultural transformation

NaijaAgroNet

 
A panel co-hosted by the United States government's global food security initiative, Feed the Future, and African Union Commission (AUC) have said government leadership and partnerships with the private sector as well as civil society are crucial for Africa to achieve food security, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Held recently in Addis Ababa, the panel was a side event of the Third Finance for Development Conference aimed to highlight how the commission's Comprehensive Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) set the foundation for enhanced engagement for the governments throughout the continent with the private sector as well as how non-state actors could play a role in advancement of country-led approaches towards food security.

Deputy Chairperson, AUC, Erastus Mwencha, in his keynote said, "Since the initiation of CAADAP we have seen a tremendous transformation in agriculture sector."

Acting Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),  Ambassador Alfonso Lenhardt, on his part, said that "the possibilities are truly endless" when the private sector, the civil society and all relevant stakeholders are engaged in ensuring food and nutrition security, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

He went further to say, "We are on a critical part of the post-2015 agenda. And we must work together" towards the transformation of the agricultural sector."

In support of  Lenhardt’s position, NaijaAgroNet reports, was a panelist, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopian Government's Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), Khalid, Bomba who said "increase production and productivity, manage risks and disaster as well as work on commercialization, we must work together to translate policies into action. We must engage the private sector and civil society groups."

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

 
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology