Outgoing President of the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs, Naba Sigri Bewong is advocating for the establishment of a Sheanut Board in the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone to create employment for indigenes.
Currently, the shea industry is under the Ghana Cocoa Board which is in charge of running its administration.
But speaking at the National Forum on Transformation of Northern Savannah Ecological Zone organized by SADA Zone Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Bolgatanga Wednesday, Naba Sigri Bewong proposed that the shea industry should be weaned off the Cocoa Board to make it an autonomous body.
“We want our own industry to stand on its own. We don’t want the sheanut industry to be lumped with Cocoa board.”
Naba indicated that two years ago, there was funding for the shea industry in Damango but these funds were ‘swallowed’ by the Ghana Cocoa Board and was not injected into the shea industry which is suffering.
He noted that having a board for the shea industry in any part of the northern regions will deal with such issues of losing money to cocoa and also create employment for the people.
Naba mentioned that he and his colleagues in upper west and northern region have started measures to get the government to make the shea industry autonomous mentioning that “we have raised this issue to the President that we must be taken off Cocoa Board and have our own board so that an office will be set up in any part of the northern regions”, adding that the three Presidents of the house of chiefs will meet the President to help address the issue further.
By: Offei-Akoto Ayeh/A1RADIOONLINE.COM/GHANA
