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OUR STORAGE & MARKETING OPTIONS:
In 1994 the Barclays Bank (Ghana) Limited, and The Agriculture Development Bank of Ghana acting on the World Bank initiatives organized a seminar “ Financing Trade In Ghana” It lead to the initiation of Commercial Inventory Credit Scheme. Representatives of National Resources Institute (NRI) of the United Kingdom’s Overseas Development Administration organized Maize Traders, Collateral Manager(s), Banks and a vital service of storage and maintenance offered by Ghana Food Distribution Company (GFDC) to implement a Warehousing and Inventory Credit System. The Institute (NRI) followed up with monitoring and evaluation assignments and offered series of recommendations. The project was not successful due to negative competing and conflicting interests of the parties involved. It had neither central invested interest entity nor an active participant to coordinate the implementation and or the monitoring phases of the project.In the World Bank Note No 12, September 2005 contains a summary of The Financing of Maize Production and Price Risks in Tanzania which is a follow-up from (Olivier Mahul 6, 2005). There is extensive study of a team of experts for a similar issue of the best way to finance agricultural trade in Uganda and Tanzania. The summary and the study progress mirrored that of Ghana, with the same constraints, implementation difficulties, and absence of local institutions to foster commercial trade. There, like in Ghana is a similar situation of competing and conflicting interests that has been identified as the recessive factors impeding the growth of production and marketing of maize. While competition is good, when the competitive interests are in conflict, they become inhibitory for the way forward.
Extensive study of Post Structural Adjustment Program (1984-2000) has clearly indicated that while the adjustment created some employment up to 1998, unemployment has increased from then to the current rate of about 11%. World Bank Discussion Papers 271 Africa Technical Series: Small Enterprise Adjusting to Liberalization in Five African Countries ( Ronald L. Parker, et al). They examined Micro and Small-Scale Enterprises (1- 5) (MSEs) and Small- Scale Enterprises (6-49) in Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, Senegal & Malawi. The current resultant paradigms have been, low employment, low or no increase in productivity in almost all the countries under the study. For almost a quarter of century, the Adjustment while it has been able to achieve the intended outcomes: Privatization and Market Driven Economy, has yet to define its effectiveness in employment creation, increase of production and reduction of poverty in African context.
Neither have its hybrid forms, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) nor the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). They have not diminished migration of the most able workforce to the cities and to significant numbers completely out of the country. What that shows is that 1. The Corporate African does not have nor is left with substantial capital to perform its function under strict capitalist orientation, agriculture being also capital intensive, without risk protection and insurances it will be non-sustainable. 2. The recent disintegration of the free market world’s banking systems shows the government must work in partnership with the corporations under hands-on supervision, to sustain the economies. The seemingly laissez faire orientations cannot be sustained either in Africa or elsewhere, with Cocoa board production and marketing successes substantiating the need of the new directions.
EXAMPLE OF PLAYERS OF THE CORN TRADING IN GHANA:
EXAMPLE OF PLAYERS OF THE CORN TRADING IN GHANA:
In 1994 the Barclays Bank (Ghana) Limited, and The Agriculture Development Bank of Ghana acting on the World Bank initiatives organized a seminar “ Financing Trade In Ghana” It lead to the initiation of Commercial Inventory Credit Scheme. Representatives of National Resources Institute (NRI) of the United Kingdom’s Overseas Development Administration organized Maize Traders, Collateral Manager(s), Banks and a vital service of storage and maintenance offered by Ghana Food Distribution Company (GFDC) to implement a Warehousing and Inventory Credit System. The Institute (NRI) followed up with monitoring and evaluation assignments and offered series of recommendations. The project was not successful due to negative competing and conflicting interests of the parties involved. It had neither central invested interest entity nor an active participant to coordinate the implementation and or the monitoring phases of the project.While the Ghana corn marketing system does not clearly establishes the global sequences of a Principal buyers or sellers, and intermediate Brokers/Agents, Wholesalers and or Retailers. At the lower end of the corn marketing, there are clear and defined role of wholesalers and retailers and some agents’ intermediaries. Due to limitation in transportation and volume of production, the best definition of the market players is based on the residence of the buyer/seller (Resident or Non-Resident in the production center) and or territory of the operators (Rural or Urban trader). Two categories of the market players have been defined as RLBLT = Rural based Long Distant Trader and
UBLDT= Urban Based Long Distance Trader and possible Rural Based Rural Trader (RBRT).
[Ref: Improving Access to Maize Marketing Opportunities in Remote Areas of Ghana.
Ramatu Al-Hassan (University of Ghana, Legon): Andrew Dorward & Colin Poulton (Wye College): Paper present at the workshop on “Improving Smallholder Market Access in remote areas of Sub-Sahara Africa” Wye College 8-9/7/1999
http://www.cphp.uk.com/uploads/disseminations/R7147-001.pdf]
.
Whatever be the mode of the traders they all buy direct from the producers i. e. the farmers. Which in essence should mark the price of corn cheaper, but due to other input functions of the traders, the price of corn is some times more expensive than the world market price. The traders have to look for their own transportation, extra drying (if need be), storage, mold prevention and insecticide application. The traders bear their own risks associated with the trade.
MARKETING CHANNELS OF CORN IN GHANA
MARKETING CHANNELS OF CORN IN GHANA
Within the production centers are assembled markets or open markets, operated in the major towns or cities within the districts, with a day or two designated as market day(s) Where selling or buying take place. Both Urban and Residence buyers attend such market day(s) market platforms. The assembled towns within the Afram Plains are Tease, Maamekrobo and Donkorkrom. The Plains are net exporter of corn to south part of Ghana. The importing areas are Akim Oda, Mpraeso, Nkawkaw in the East region, and Aflao, Akatsi, and Denu in the Volta Region and also to Accra proper. Most of these importing centers are also assembled center for retailing. The Plains supply to the Volta region may also wind-up in Togo.The condition of Damongo is different:1) Due to the surrounding sparsely populated towns, the Damongo city is the main trading center which export to most of the bigger cities and towns in the Northern part of the country such as Tamale, Wa, Yendi etc. The farmers as well as the traders are almost all involved in some form of trading activities. The production per the population enables them to export as far south as Kumasi if not Accra. The specific movement of all produce are from the north to the south, with foreign imported or locally manufacture food products from the south to the North..
Post harvest Processing:
MAO is in negotiation with Mathews Company, Crystal Lake IL. USA.
( http://mathwscompany.com) for dryers and post harvest processing equipments
For corn, the following equipment exists:
Mathews Company Model 675BEM-OF grain dryer. The dryer is oil fired (diesel) with electrical specifications for 50HZ, 380 volts. The dryer is shipped in knocked-down form in (1) 20 foot container. The cost of a technician to oversee the assembly and educate the operators is $500 per day plus all expenses. The approximate time for assembly of this dryer will be 7 days; $3.500.00 & all expenses. The technician is based in the UK.
The approximate capacities for the 675BEM-OF are:
Maize - 20% moisture - 15% moisture - 12MTPH or 144MT for a 12 hour work day.
Maize - 25% moisture - 15% moisture - 8.5MTPH or 102MT for a 12 hour work day
The three Dryers have the capacity of drying 50% of national corn output at the current production level
Our buying and marketing strategy: We have taken queues from one of the things that Ghana does best that is the Cocoa Production. We have accepted a simply mundane assumption that, to be second globally in any performance is a major achievement and wealth emulation. We have examined the Cocoa board legal and operational mandates, the extension services, and their marketing concepts and have established MARKETING SYSTEM- FRANCHISEES based on that concept
E-mail: ansah-yiadom@maoafrica.org