President John D. Mahama has called for urgent redemptive action for the struggling sheanut factory in Buipe.
He, also stressed the need for accountability and revitalisation of the US$10 million agribusiness facility.
Furthermore, President Mahama addressed the ongoing crisis at the Produce Buying Company (PBC), urging a full audit and prosecution where necessary.
Speaking during a courtesy call by the Ghana Cocoa, Coffee, and Sheanut Farmers Association (COCOSHE), the president emphasised the urgent need for a reset this year to ensure the government could pay farmers a fair price – maintaining at least 70% of the producer price.
He called for incentives and improved farming methods to make the sector more attractive, also.
The Buipe Sheanut Factory was set up and commissioned in 2012, a joint venture between the Government of Ghana through the Produce Buying Company Limited (PBC) and Messrs Sysgate Brazil Limited. The latter was mandated to market the butter on the Brazilian market. From the sheanut-rich Savannah region of northern Ghana, the butter was to be transported via the Volta Lake to Tema port and then exported to Santos, Brazil.
The factory was meant to add value to sheanut and control employment in the Savannah region, especially among women who labour the hardest in this regard. The immediate past government led by President Nana Akufo-Addo did little to nothing for the Buipe Sheanut Factory, however, despite the much-touted One-District, One-Factory (1D1F) initiative.
A 2004 USAID report said about 48 per cent of sheanuts in the Savannah area remained uncollected and underutilised due to the lack of a ready market and risks involved.
The Savannah has a potential annual production capacity of 200,000 tonnes of shea nut.
By Onapo
