The disconnect between research and industry was the focus at a day’s seminar organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) to bring players in the two sectors to interact and network.

The seminar, which was on agricultural research findings and investment opportunities in the sector, brought together the Crop and Animal Research institutes of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ghana Club 100 companies, agricultural sector lending institutions, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and other relevant institutions.

The seminar, on the theme: “Research findings and investment opportunities in the agricultural sector”, created a platform for research institutions to present some latest research findings and opportunities in the agricultural sector. Participants also exchanged information and experiences.

CRIG

Making a presentation on: “Research products of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), investment opportunities in the agricultural sector”, a senior research scientist, Dr Esther Gyedu-Akoto, said after 20 years of pilot-scale production, CRIG had established that value could be added to by-products of some of its mandate crops.

She said, for instance, that only about 10 per cent of fresh cocoa pods (fruit) was commercialised, explaining that the remaining 90 per cent could also be put to commercial use.

She said for each tonne of dry cocoa beans produced, about 10 tonnes of fresh husks could be obtained, which could be used as animal feed.

Investment Needs

Dr Gyedu-Akoto said although CRIG had made several efforts to attract entrepreneurs to take up the large-scale production of the products, it had not been successful and, therefore, suggested that policy interventions be put in place to ensure that the nation fully benefited from the products developed by CRIG.

Importation of Meat

The Director of the Animal Research Institute, Dr E.K. Adu, who spoke on investment opportunities in the livestock industry, said the country spent about $200 million to import meat and meat products, explaining that poultry imports alone constituted about 80 per cent of the total meat imports.

He said by that Ghana was supporting job creation in countries such as Brazil, USA and Belgium, adding that the development was detrimental to the local livestock industry.

Dr Adu blamed the continued importation of chicken and chicken products on the interference of politicians, stressing: “We have to push them to listen to us, to let them understand that some of these can create problems for us.”

Source: www.graphic.com.gh