Naba Segri Bewong
Naba Sigri Bewong, the immediate-past President of the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs and Paramount Chief of the Sakote Traditional Area has added his voice to calls for the establishment of a sheanut board in the Northern Savanna Ecological Zone to ensure the development of the sheanut industry.
“If there is a board in place, it will be responsible just for the sheanut and will be mandated to see to the growth and protection of the trees. The indigenous people involved in the marketing and processing of sheanut deserve more than they are getting.
Sheanut is still under the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and definitely doesn’t get the full attention of the Board nor the care required to make the sheanut industry vibrant.”
Naba Sigiri Bewong made this call at a National Forum held in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region on the transformation of the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone.
Naba Sigri Bewong at the event proposed that the sheanut industry should quickly be separated from the COCOBOD and resourced to manage the industry effectively.
“We want the sheanut industry to stand on its own. We don’t want the sheanut industry to be lumped together with the Ghana Cocoa board. We want government to do this to help the industry to grow faster.”
Naba Bewong alleged that two years ago, the sheanut industry in Damango in the Northern Region was deprived of some funds allocated through the Ghana Cocoa Board.
According to Naba Bewong, he and his colleagues in the Upper West and Northern Regional Houses of Chiefs initiated a process to get the government to give the sheanut industry an autonomous board.
“We have raised this issue with the President that the sheanut industry should be separated from the Cocoa Board and have its own board with its head office in any part of the three Northern Regions. In the North, many households depend on sheanut. Developing the sheanut industry will therefore lead to wealth creation and reduce the poverty across the three Northern regions,” he stated.
From Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bolgatanga