The University of Cape Coast as the lead institution in collaboration with its partners has developed three new Striga-resistant cowpea genotypes purposely for the three regions in the northern part of Ghana.

The partners are Savannah Agriculture Research Institute (SARI), the Plant Genetic Resources and Research Institute (PGRRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as well as the University of Virginia, USA.

The three new cowpea genotypes, which have been recommended by the National Varietal Release and Registration Committee for approval, are resistant to all the known races of the parasitic weed, Striga gesnerioides in West Africa. Striga is a parasitic weed that infest and impose physiological stress to retard the growth and development of cowpea, leading to up to 100 % yield losses in the dry savannah agro-ecological zones of Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions of Ghana.

Improvement in the Newly Developed Cowpea Genotype

According to the Principal Investigator of the Cowpea Project, Dr. Aaron T. Asare, the newly developed cowpeas for the northern part of Ghana were improvement over existing varieties for bearing resistant gene to control all known races of Striga, not only in Ghana but in West Africa as a whole. He explained that “the newly developed cowpeas are also tolerant to drought, rust and viruses with early maturity and high yield traits. He indicated that, the newly developed cowpea would serve as vital genetic resource for further improvement of the crop in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in areas affected by the parasitic weed.

Prof. Asare said there were cost benefits which farmers would derive from cultivating the newly developed cowpeas because of their high yielding potential and adaptability to diverse ecological conditions especially in the dry savannah regions. Prof. Asare said the recommendation of the three candidate cowpeas for approval to be release as varieties to seed production companies and farmers was a great opportunity to improve the cowpea industry. He urged farmers to patronize the product when it was finally released to the market. He advised the youth to also venture into cowpea cultivation as a means of creating employment for them to earn a living. “We are grateful for what we have achieved together so far and we hope to do more to boost the cowpea industry,” he noted.

Appreciation to Partners

Prof. Asare thanked the NVRRC for endorsing three out of five candidates of cowpea that were presented for approval and subsequent release to farmers. “We have no iota of doubt concerning your excellent decisions, selections and recommendations that you have made to perfect the document processing in order to have our cowpea genotypes registered as varieties,” he expressed. He expressed appreciation to SARI and PGRRI for collaborating with UCC to achieve such a milestone adding that “SARI has been very generous by hosting our students for their research work”.

Solution to Striga Menace

Prof. Richard Akromah who led a team of the NVRRC to inspect the cowpea field at Bawku, said members of the committee were happy that a solution had been found to deal with the Striga menace which was causing huge losses to farmers in the northern sector of Ghana. “It’s been a problem, I have sent students here and I saw how they struggle with Striga so I am happy that materials are coming up,” he noted.

Prof. Akromah advised the researchers to have good fingerprint background on the newly developed cowpeas so that they could claim ownership to it. He reiterated the need for the researchers of the project to develop a user manual to serve as guide for farmers.

Cowpea Project

The cowpea project is an initiative by researchers from the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences with funding from International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, has advised the 2018/2019 fresh students that the achievement of academic excellence in UCC requires hard work, commitment and sacrifice.

Prof. Joseph Ampiah, told the fresh students to be mindful that they have entered another phase in life where there would be no control and guidance, therefore, their stay in the University would depend on the choices they make.

The Vice-Chancellor gave the advice at the Matriculation Ceremony to formally receive fresh students admitted to the 2018/2019 academic year.

Statistics

A total of 5,962 students were admitted to pursue various programmes in the University comprising 5, 266 undergraduates and 696 postgraduates. The number is made up of 3,076 male and 2,190 female for undergraduates and 447 male and 249 female for postgraduates respectively. In terms of colleges, the Vice-Chancellor said the admission figures were as follow; College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences1, 187, College of Humanities and Legal Studies 1,922, College of Health and Allied Sciences 838, College of Education Studies 1, 319.

The Vice-Chancellor said the number admitted for the 2018/2019 academic year was 14 per cent higher than that of the previous year.

UCC Provides Conducive Academic Environment

Prof. Ampiah congratulated the matriculants and assured them that they have chosen a very respected and noble institution. He informed them that UCC would continue to provide an environment that exposes students to an entertaining and a wide-range of learning experiences. “Our lecturers, scholars, and researchers are here not only to help you obtain that prestigious and enviable University of Cape Coast degree, but also to help expand your understanding of society and the world at large, he further assured.

Prof. Ampiah indicated that “in UCC we pride ourselves in not only training students in academic work, but also in character, so that upon graduation the student is fully ready to be a responsible citizen who will contribute to national development, in a patriotic and result-oriented manner”. He called on the matriculants to imbibe the virtues of self-discipline, self-care, good mode of dressing, fidelity to their studies and work, and general comportment, before they graduate from the University.

Rights and Responsibilities

On students’ rights and responsibilities, the Vice-Chancellor, told them that the University was a place where they would enjoy a lot of freedom, stressing that “but that freedom often comes with some corresponding obligations. Here your freedom ends where another person’s freedom begins. So, you must not only protect your rights privileges and freedom, you must also ensure that you do not trample on the rights, privileges, and freedom of others”.

Rules and Regulations of UCC

The Vice-Chancellor admonished the matriculants to observe the rules and regulations of the University which have been collated in the Students Handbook, Academic Programmes, Policies and Regulations and Brochure on Graduate Studies to make their stay on campus enjoyable.  “The University of Cape Coast has maintained and will continue to maintain a zero tolerance for all anti-social behaviours such as cultism, examination malpractice, hooliganism, and such other vices,” Prof. Ampiah warned. 

Prof. Ampiah added that, “The University has enjoyed relative peace over the years, and you are, therefore, advised to keep to the matriculation oath and stay away from activities that will constitute a threat to the peace of this noble institution of learning, as any manifestation of such ills shall be dealt with in accordance with the University rules and regulations”. He reaffirmed UCC’s commitment to helping the fresh students to achieve their dreams saying “Do your part by studying hard and adhering to the rules and regulations outlined in these books as well as other rules in the University”.

The Vice-Chancellor implored the matriculants to attend lectures regularly to and take their quizzes seriously as well as completing their take-home assignments on time. He advised them to form effective study groups and participate actively in classroom activities. “All of these contribute to your overall performance and if done well, the main end-of-semester examinations will be less strenuous and the urge to engage in examination malpractice will not be there,” he explained

On matters of security, the Vice-Chancellor entreated the students to be security conscious and adhere to traffic regulations on campus. He used the opportunity to appeal to the entire University Community to adhere to the new traffic regulations on campus stating “It is for the good of all of us”.

The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) has presented 30 laptops and accessories to members of the Association of Students with Disabilities in University.

The laptops have been installed with Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) software to make its use simpler for the visually impaired.

In addition to the laptops, GIFEC donated 10 desktop computers and accessories to the Resource Centre for Alternative Media and Assistive Technology (R-CAMAT) to facilitate the training of disabled students in the use of Information Communication and Technology (ICT).

Building Capacity of PWDs

Speaking at the function, the Executive Director of GIFEC, Mr. Kofi Asante, said the donation was to contribute towards equipping disabled students with ICT skills. He indicated that the objective of GIFEC was to bridge the digital divide and provide resource for capacity building in ICT for underserved and unserved populations, including   persons with disability (PWD).

Mr. Asante sadi, “GIFEC is committed to partnering educational institutions to build the ICT capacities of PWDs to make their studies less stressful and reduce the dependence of the visually impaired on braille materials to enable them access to a pool of resources with their laptops”.  “Graduates now need the capacity in ICT to compete in the global market,” he noted. He said GIFEC has donated ICT equipment to several institutions and indicated that “GIFEC will partner R-CAMAT to equip disabled students to compete favourably in the turbulent job market.

The Deputy Minister for Communications, Mr. Vincent Sowah Odotei, noted that ICT has become a critical component of the world economy.  He said training of persons with disability (PWD) was a priority of the government, hence a number of initiatives have been taken in major sectors of the economy.

Mr. Odotei mentioned the introduction of GIFEC Special Digital Literacy Programme (SDLP) which was aimed at modernising, improving and resourcing special training schools to effectively serve the needs of PWDs in the country. He explained that the programme was targeting the distribution of 1,000 digital learning devices to persons with special needs in all the educational levels to equip them with ICT skills so that they would become meaningful individuals to society after completing their education.  “This assistive technology which translates visual information into forms are useful to users via non-visual means such as text to speech, sound icons or braille device,” he said.

UCC Partnership with GIFEC and Ministry of Communications

In his address, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, thanked GIFEC for the donation and also indicated the University’s its readiness to build the capacity of PWD to prepare a pool of trainer of trainees. He said as Vice-Chancellor, his vision was to digitise the entire University adding “the donation of these ICT equipment is directly in line with my vision”.

Prof. Ampiah said the donation was a step in firming up the relationship between UCC , GIFEC and the Ministry of Communications for the betterment of students especially PWDs. "UCC will do everything possible to make life of PWD comfortable on campus stressing that, “UCC is a disability friendly,” he noted.

Introduction of Sign Language Interpretation

The Vice-Chancellor indicated that UCC in collaboration with the Ghana National Association of the Deaf would introduce a course in Sign Language Interpretation in the next academic year. “This course will help the Deaf in the society access tertiary education and enable them get employment in the formal sector

The President of the Association of Students with Disabilities (ASD), Mr. Carruthers Tetteh, expressed appreciation to GIFEC and the Ministry of Communication for the donation. He said the laptops would enhance their studies and help them to access various educational materials as well as building their capacities in ICT.

Mr. Tetteh used the opportunity to call on Management of the University to ensure the full enforcement of the 2012 Disability Policy. He appealed to the Vice-Chancellor to facilitate the construction of a Centre solely dedicated to persons with special needs in the University.