An official of LG presenting a dummy cheque for the bakery project
TWO COMMUNITIES in the Upper East Region and another in the North East Region have each received grants of GH¢50,000 from LG Electronics, a South Korean multi-national company, to implement projects that will empower livelihoods and reduce poverty.
The communities in the Upper East Region are Boko in the Bongo District and Dagmweo in the Bolgatanga Municipality while from the North East Region Karimenga in the West Mamprusi Municipal Area was chosen.
An LG Ambassador Challenge programme jointly organised by the Korean Friends of Hope International, an international NGO, and the Community Chest of Korea elicited solutions to problems in poor communities.
A representative of LG Electronics Ghana, Thomas Moore Amoako, presenting dummy cheques to winners of the competition at Bolgatanga, said LG was not only interested in selling their products but also, in the welfare of customers.
“The programme is about people sharing ideas on how to solve problems in their communities. LG then goes ahead to select the community with the best idea and offers a support of GH¢50,000,” Mr. Amoako noted.
Field Manager for the Korean Friends of Hope International, Samuel Ofori Manu, explained that the three communities were selected out of 150 proposals received across the country.
He said the selection was done based on the gravity of problems in competing communities and the viability of solutions proffered for those.
He said the Boko and Dagmweo communities won the prizes because of their proposal to engage in bakery and weaving respectively while the Karimenga community wrote a proposal to undertake a project in ecological farming.
Mr. Manu continued that the Korean Friends of Hope International and Joyful Africa Mission, also a non-governmental organisation, would monitor the projects to make sure they yielded maximum results and contributed to poverty reduction and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Michael Baba Awine, Assembly Member for Boko Electoral Area, thanked LG and the Korean Friends of Hope International for the support, indicating that the grant would help establish the bakery project.
On completion, the project is expected to employ people in the community and help reduce extreme poverty in the area.
Naba Saybeam Emmanuel Baam, Chief of Karimenga, said the community relied on a dam constructed by the inhabitants, which women in the community had over the years used for farming in the dry season.
He said the support would enable the community expand a greenhouse project it had undertaken in the area to facilitate all year farming.