Asutuare, Eastern Region, Ghana//-Golden Exotics Limited (GEL), Ghana’s major exporter of fresh bananas to the European Union (EU) market and some parts of Africa has revealed it is taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint drastically.
According to the company, it is doing so in line with the EU and global standards of carbon reduction which has become a topically across the globe.
“We are doing the calculations, it is quite a little complicated if trees or herbs are supposed to increase or decrease your carbon footprint. So, if you have a plantation like Golden Exotics, technically your carbon footprint will come down drastically”, said the Corporate Affairs and Administration Manager of Golden Exotics Limited, Mark Achel.
He explained to some members of the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) at the company’s huge banana plantation farm at Kasunya- Asutuare in the Eastern Region that generators are powering the company to enable it to achieve its carbon footprint target.
“We have tried using donkeys. We also have a policy of reducing fossil fuel. One of our projects now is to do solar. We are doing the solar project in 2024. Because we do our processes during the day, while the sun is there”, Mr Achel told the journalists who visited the company as part of activities to mark the recent World Press Freedom Day.
The tour of the facility was facilitated by the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC) in partnership with the IFEJ.
The GEL which is Ghana’s subsidiary of Compagnie Fruitiere has started the solar project. Its Tema warehouse and packhouses, according to him, are running on solar.
“We have done it. So, it is on the ground”. It also working in partnership with GIZ, a German development agency to connect the 2,000-hectare banana farm to solar, Mr Achel said.
Looking at the size of the plantation, the GEL may be producing more electricity than what it needs when the large solar project starts. However, can it sell or give to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) or whatever? That is the problem that the company is thinking of.
According to experts, carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and methane that are generated by human actions or activities. Globally, the average carbon footprint is closer to four tonnes.
Environmental friendly
“We have an organic farm with 600 hectares and the conventional farm is 1,270 hectares. We are moving towards 2,100 hectares of both conventional and organic bananas”, the Corporate Affairs and Administration Manager of GEL said.
“The key thing is how we look at our environmental projects: The compost- We produce our manure in here to completely reduce the use of chemical fertilizers.
It is not that we don’t use it, but the compost helps it completely. We produce our organic materials, and how do we do it, we use waste bananas, the stems of bananas, cocoa husks, poultry manure, and wood which we grind together and then we produce the compost.
So, the compost is used in spreading and the effect of the compost will be able to reduce almost one-third of the conventional fertilizers usage.
Currently, the company is doing almost 10,000 tonnes of compost in-house to at least help supplement, and these are all local materials that it uses. “So, any time that we are doing new fields, it is always the compost materials that we used to get the fields ready”, Mr Achel further explained.
According to him, rainforest vegetation is normally suitable for banana cultivation. However, the Asutuare area’s vegetation is savanna, so the farm is 100% irrigated by using water from the Volta Lake.
The GEL which is 100% owned by Compagnie Fruitiere holds a 90% market share for fresh banana fruits exports from Ghana to the EU, with over 100,000 tonnes of export per annum.
The company according to its senior managers directly employs 4,000 Ghanaians, and creates millions of job opportunities for Ghanaians indirectly. It also invested hugely in the communities in which it operates.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
Email: mk68008@gmail.com
