School of Agriculture Shares Research Work
Some Lecturers of the School of Agriculture have shared research projects they have conducted with their colleagues and the general public.
Speaking at a seminar to share these research projects, the Dean of the School of Agriculture, Prof. Elvis Asare-Bediako, explained that the programme formed part of the school鈥檚 mandate of disseminating knowledge generated by faculty to the benefit of society. 听鈥淲e are supposed to educate - whatever we study and teach our students here. If it does not result in the benefits of the public, then, it means we have failed as a university. This is why we decided to have seminar series to discuss some of the topical issues affecting Agriculture and real situations鈥�.
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听Youth Unemployment Policy in Ghana
Presenting on 鈥渢he Paradox of Ghana鈥檚 Unemployment Policies; Analysis of Youth Unemployment Policies in Ghana鈥�, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Dr. Moses Kwadwo, indicated that Ghana鈥檚 youth unemployment was due to unavailability of long-term national policy. According to him, government actually did not have a comprehensive policy to solve this problem and had only resorted to varied projects which were not properly designed to engage the youth.听 He further explained that these ad hoc measures have so far proved unsustainable since 鈥渁 change in government also results in a change in policy鈥�.
Addressing Youth Unemployment
In order to address this social problem, Dr. Kwadwo suggested that there should be stakeholder consultation and participation on the part of the youth when making policies. 听Coming from an agriculture background, Dr. Kwadwo encouraged the youth to resort to Agribusiness rather than subsistence farming.
Discovery of Orange fleshed Sweet Potato Gari
Presenting on 鈥淥range fleshed Sweet Potato Gari and Estimated Contribution to Vitamin A Requirement鈥� an Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Prof. Ernest Ekow Abano, highlighted on the high deficiency of 鈥榁itamin A鈥� faced by a lot of Ghanaians and how听Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) with gari could help reduce this prevalence.
Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato known locally as 鈥淎pomudzin Santom" was discovered by a team of researchers from the Department of Agricultural Engineering, UCC.
Health Benefits of Orange fleshed Sweet Potato Gari
Speaking on the health benefits of OFSP, Prof. Abano noted that 鈥淥FSP, carrot and golden rice are in the same category and contain high amount of bitter carotene which the body transforms into 鈥榁itamin A鈥� when we eat it. Vitamin A helps in the management of health conditions such as the reduction of child mortality, reduction of infections and improvement of eye sight鈥�.
Prof. Abano, therefore, recommended that 鈥減eople should increase the intake of Vitamin A containing foods so that we can decrease this deficiency鈥�. 听
The seminar was attended by students, lecturers and the general public.
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