Ghana To Have Science, Technology Fund

A Proposed fund to help develop science and technology in the country is being considered to run parallel to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund).
The science and technology fund, which will be operational by the end of the year, is expected to provide funding for research, as well as for developing activities in science and technology and biotechnology.
The President, Mr J.A. Kufuor, made this known in a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Ernest Debrah, at the Third ECOWAS Ministerial Meeting on Biotechnology in Accra.
President Kufuor said Ministers of Education, Science and Sports and Finance and Economic Planning were liaising to develop the Science and Technology Fund Bill for Parliamentary consideration.
The four-day conference focused on agriculture and the use of biotechnology to tackle its hitherto intractable problems. Food and nutrition security remain Africa's most fundamental challenge for human welfare and economic growth, with an estimated 200 million undernourished people on the continent.
President Kufuor said the inadequate intake of essential micronutrients by many Africans was exacerbated by arid climates and poor soils that could not support the food needed to supply these nutrients.
"Added to these are intractable problems of pests and diseases that appear to overwhelm our resources. Biotechnology as a tool to complement traditional practices and with the enabling policy environment, can address the production constraints and contribute to food security in Africa," he said.
He said Africa had to jealously preserve the raw material for biotechnology application for sustainable exploitation in partnership with the modern technologically advanced counterparts.
In a welcoming address, a deputy Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, Mr Abraham Dwuma Odoom, said over the past decades, most regions of the world had experienced a generally increased trend in food production.

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