The government has reiterated its commitment to ensure that oil palm is produced sustainably in the country.
The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, speaking at the opening of a workshop on the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) 2020 Africa palm oil initiative, said the government was subsequently partnering the private sector to ensure that this was achieved.
“We believe this can be done by partnering with allies who share the same vision and who are ready to forge strategic, mutually beneficial partnerships to work towards set goals,” he said.
He added, “That is why the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has collaborated with the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 to bring together the sub-sector stakeholders who share in our vision to achieve a prosperous oil palm industry which provides jobs and wealth to local farming communities in a way that is environmentally and socially sustainable and protects the rich tropical forests of the region.”
The deputy minister said that was why the ministry had also partnered the private sector to organise a second country workshop to validate and agree on a work plan for the implementation of principles and actions to guide the responsible oil palm development.
“This workshop, therefore, provides an opportunity to plan for our roles and contributions into the regional principles for responsible oil palm development that takes account of the development plans of our respective countries and Africa as a whole, while addressing both environmental targets for reduced deforestation, land use and greenhouse gases and also social indicators on a range of issues such as land tenure and the rights of indigenous people,” he said
The workshop
The workshop was organised by Proforest, the company spearheading the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) 2020 initiative, in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and is aimed at promoting responsible production of oil palm in Africa.
The objectives of the workshop, according to the organisers, were to provide members with an update on the TFA2020 Africa Palm Oil Initiative, review and validate Ghana country principles and actions.
It was also to reconstitute the Ghana Country Core Team and to develop an implementation framework to guide the implementation of the national principles and actions to be adopted.
The Africa Regional Director of Proforest, Mr Abraham Baffoe, said the vision of the TFA 2020 on Oil Palm Development in Africa was to achieve a prosperous palm oil industry.
Source: Daily Graphic
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