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31.05.2016 Business & Finance

We Are Not Responsible For Cassava Shortage

By Ghanaian Chronicle
We Are Not Responsible For Cassava Shortage
31.05.2016 LISTEN

..Says Guinness Ghana Limited
By Bernice Bessey
Guinness Ghana Limited has called on Ghanaians to disabuse their minds of the allegation that it is responsible for the acute shortage of cassava in the country. The alcoholic beverage company, instead, wants to be praised for its contribution to the profitable use and consumption of the local raw material.

Management of the company told The Chronicle that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture was properly consulted, prior to its usage of cassava and sorghum in the production of beer and malt, respectively. The Communications and Engagement Manager of Guinness Ghana Limited indicated that the company was patronizing local produce to enable farmers move from small scale farming to commercial crop cultivation.

According to Rita Rockson, the idea was to bring about economic empowerment, as well as provide job opportunity for many on the supply chain, adding, “We are bringing value and change to the supply chain for sustainable development.” She posited that majority of the raw materials, especially cassava produce in the country, usually went waste, without any value added to it.

Speaking at the launch of the 2016 National Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Philanthropy Awards in Accra over the weekend, Mrs.  Rockson added that though the company produced beverages, it had ways provided development, through the provision of potable water and other economic opportunities across the country.

The CSR and Philanthropy Awards is an annual ritual purposed to honour corporate institutions that strived to improve the environment, community development and education projects, among others. This year's awards scheme would focus on companies, which recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as part of their corporate social responsibilities.

The lead project manager – CSR Diary and Awards – Mr. Kojo Williams said the award scheme would praise industries that were powerful and impactful in championing social responsibility and the green campaign. The Director of the Vodafone Ghana Foundation, Nana Yaa Ofori-Koree, who also addressed the award organizers,  participants and  journalists present, complained bitterly about the country's poor data base, which, she said,  hindered corporate Ghana from efficiently and effectively providing the right development to communities at the right time.

According to her, because corporate institutions didn't have a database, they often ended up replicating development projects that had already been done. She lamented: “You will find development partners in a particular area, corporate organizations in the same area and philanthropists also in the same area with an aim of achieving similar objective.

So if we had a coordinated approach then maybe I can go to the database to see what is happening in a particular area so that I don't invest my funds in the same area just as my other neighboring companies are doing.”  As part of events marking the Vodafone Ghana Foundation CSR, the telecommunication company is currently supporting health, woman empowerment, employment, community development and education.

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