Stories written by Francis Kokutse
Franics Kokutse is a freelance journalist based in Accra. In addition to IPS, he works for other media organisations including Associated Press, Dow Jones Newswires, The Nation Group of Kenya and is also the West Africa Correspondent for the New Delhi-based Indo Asian News Service. Francis is also a published poet on Poemhunters.com.

GHANA: Cadbury’s Deal Destined to Sweeten More Farmers’ Lives

The initiative linking British chocolate giant Cadbury’s with a Ghanaian cooperative representing 40,000 cocoa farmers is set to grow further and enhance the livelihoods of more farmers.

MEDIA-GHANA: Unusual Bedfellows Push for Change

There has been a clamour to tighten up oversight and regulation of Ghana’s broadcasters from unusual bedfellows - the state-sponsored National Media Commission (NMC) and the Ghana Journalists" Association (GJA). The bodies have, in separate initiatives, slammed attempts to "privatise" the state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and have railed against the practices of commercial radio stations.

TRADE-GHANA: Rice Farmers’ Markets So Close and Yet Out of Reach

Last year, rice farmers took to the streets of Ghana’s capital of Accra and accused the government of allowing imports to destroy their livelihoods.

POLITICS-GHANA: New President Must Tackle Economy

As Ghana’s president-elect, John Evans Atta Mills, prepares to take office, he has his work cut out for him translating several years of strong macro-economic performance into tangible benefits for the majority of Ghanaians.

GHANA: Indecisive On Small Arms Control

It is estimated that there are eight million small arms in circulation in the West African subregion, with grave consequences for the region's security.

Cocoa leaves discoloured by swollen shoot disease. Credit:  Francis Kokutse/IPS

TRADE-WEST AFRICA: Swollen Shoot Disease Devastating Cocoa Trees

On a hot November afternoon, Opanin Owusu Adu showed me around his farm on the outskirts of Suhum, a town in the Eastern Region in Ghana.

Does the handful of women nominated bode well for the future? Credit:  Mercedes Sayagues/IPS

POLITICS-GHANA: The Fruits of the Future

The upside: three political parties selected women as vice-presidential candidates in the general elections of Dec. 7, the first time ever in Ghana’s history. The downside: the parties are small and have no real chance of victory.

Defining the code that will guide resource extraction in West Africa is vital.  Credit:  Manoocher Deghati/IRIN

MINING-WEST AFRICA: ECOWAS Stirs Up Trouble With MOU

The Economic Community of West African States has taken the unprecedented step of inviting Oxfam America to coordinate the drawing up of a mining code for the region. The decision has infuriated some civil society organisations.

POLITICS-GHANA: The Steep Price of Getting Elected

Mawusi Awity and her husband were willing to jeopardize his military career for her dream of running for parliament in Ghana but there was another price to pay that she could not afford.

WEST AFRICA: Cotton Symbolises Global Trade System’s 'Iniquity'

The international cotton trade has been a sad tale for West African countries. The region produces five percent of the world’s cotton and 15 percent of the global cotton fibre trade. Yet West African cotton farmers are among the poorest in the world.

DEVELOPMENT: Donors And The Poor Agree Aid Agenda

Delegates from both developing and developed countries have adopted the Accra Agenda For Action (AAA) as a guide to improve the way aid is given and spent.

Hamida Harrison -- donors need to stop tying aid to their national interests. Credit:  Miriam Mannak/IPS

WORLD-DEVELOPMENT: ‘‘It’s the Same Talking and Talking’’

About a 1,000 delegates are expected to take up their seats tomorrow at a high level forum on the effectiveness of aid that opens in Ghana’s capital, Accra. But their arrival has been met with mixed reactions.

TRADE-AFRICA: The Struggle Continues Over EPAs

The economic partnership agreements (EPAs) are being given a bad name for nothing, according to Ghanaian parliamentarian JB Danquah.

Accra's bustling central business district Credit:  Francis Kokutse/IPS

GHANA: ‘‘You Have to Speak Up When Competition Destroys You’’

Business has been slow for many Ghanaian traders. They blame the situation on not only the influx of cheap Chinese products but also insufficient legal protection and corruption.

Cocoa pods. Credit:  Francis Kokutse/IPS

GHANA: Relations With China – Into The Claws of Another Predator?

More and more, China seems to be taking up any commodity that can be had from Ghana. From copper waste and scrap, timber and natural rubber to aluminium waste and scrap and vegetable products are being exported to the upcoming Asian superpower.

An infected palm dies within 3 to 6 months and coastal dwellers lose a valuable source of income. Credit: M Dollet/CIRAD

DEVELOPMENT-GHANA: Lethal Yellow Disease Has Scientists Stumped

Older Ghanaians remember when the country's coast was lined with coconut trees. Fishermen would mend their nets in the shade the trees provided, as well as drink the water and eat the fruit. Thousands of women made a living extracting oil from copra - the dried meat of the coconut. But today, the beaches have been stripped bare by Lethal Yellow Disease (LYD).

DEATH PENALTY-GHANA: Public Lets Execution Call Pass

A senior Ghanaian justice department official has expressed surprise that the government has failed to ban capital punishment, implicitly censuring lawmakers for their recent endorsement of two new pro-death penalty judges to the Supreme Court.

DEVELOPMENT-GHANA: No Place to Lay Their Heads

Agbogbloshie Market is a vibrant market in the heart of Accra, Ghana's capital, where one can buy almost anything. But the market is also the stage for a sad tale of many who gain nothing from the commercial bustle: hundreds of young girls from the northern part of the country who work as porters in Accra's markets.

TRADE: China and India Should Join Effort to Stop Illegal Logging

‘‘Greed should not lead us to destroy our forests,’’ according to Abraham Ansah, an executive member of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) the Bunso Conservationists.

TRADE-GHANA: Non-Traditional Exports Are Booming

Impressive growth in exports from Ghana to the rest of the world has been witnessed over the past few years as more and more Ghanaians explore production in non-traditional sectors.

TRADE: UNCTAD Hears Gender Inequality Becoming Worse – and Better

The only way that the poor, particularly women, will benefit from all the efforts that the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has put into improving global trade is to ensure that power inequalities are redressed.

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