A Professor of Entomology, Prof. Peter Kwapong, says Bees create more employment opportunities and generate income as compared to some developing and developed countries

Prof. Kwapong also explained that the income generated out of the insect is higher as compared to that of some developing and developed countries.

 “Many of the world’s most important cash crops are pollinator-dependent. They constitute leading export of developing countries and developed countries providing employment and income for millions of people”, he said.

“Bees are a source of multiple benefits to people well beyond food provisioning alone, contributing directly to medicines, biofuel, fibre, construction materials, musical instruments, art and crafts and as a source of inspiration for art, music, literature, religion and technology”, he noted.

The world-renowned entomologist, Prof.  Kwapong of the Department of Conservation Biology and Entomology said this when he delivered his inaugural lecture. He indicated that “livelihoods based on beekeeping and honey hunting are an anchor for many rural economies and are a source of multiple education and recreational benefits in both rural and urban contexts”.

Speaking on the topic “Are Bees the Hidden engineers of Ghana’s Economy”, Prof. Kwapong said without insects, life would have been very difficult to bear since there would be no food available to eat, adding that “protein from insects are more than any other’.

Prof. Kwapong explained that bees were the most important of all insects and for that matter animal pollinators. “There are over 20,000 bee species all over the world and contribute immensely in the area of pollination leading fertilization and reproduction plants”. Regrettably, Prof. Kwapong said despite these contributions and their importance, bees face many challenges created by those who receive their help and have therefore, resulted in global decline in bee population and diversity. He pointed out that “87% of the world’s plants depend on bees for pollination, without bees 40% of crops will be reduced. Loss of bees could lead to deficiencies due to lower crop yield”, he said.

The eminent Ghanaian entomologist recommended that that the attention of the nation should be turned to the “Hidden Economic Engineers” (bees) God has given to mankind in the environment for the economic emancipation of communities and for the survival of people. Prof. Kwapong who has over 15 years of expertise and experience in Bees and pollination ecology has since 2005 established Stingless Bee Sanctuary to provide an alternative livelihood for the people living in the area of the Kakum Forest to prevent the over exploitation of the environment.

He has also trained 7 PhD students in bee pollination and ecology and a number of people in the 10 regions of the country.

He called on authorities to stop the mass spraying exercise being carried out by government  since the chemicals cause a lot of challenges to the existence of bees.

Transforming the healthcare sector is about equity not equality, the immediate past Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Gilbert Buckle, has said.

He noted that the distribution of health resources amongst medical facilities should purely be based on equity. “Transforming the health sector is about equity. Those who need more health care services should have access (to them). Health services is not about equality”, Dr. Buckle said, while addressing a public lecture at the SMS Auditorium. The lecture was on theme “Transforming the Health system for Improved Health Outcome: What and How ?”. Dr. Buckle noted that “transforming the health system is about a series of incremental changes, intentional changes, to make sure that anybody has the highest possible quality health care. Where quality is not defined by the beauty of the building or the latest of the technological equipment…” He added that the transformation of the healthcare sector would ultimately achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), where people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need while these services do not expose the user to financial hardship.   According to him, a couple of years ago, there was a national campaign to eradicate buruli ulcer in some districts in the Eastern region.  As the District Director of Health, he requested the Regional health authorities to channel the funds earmarked to eradicate the buruli ulcer to the other districts which were severely affected by the disease because his district and other three adjoining communities had not recorded the condition. However, he said, to his utter dismay, the Regional Director of Health Services  told him bluntly that it was a national campaign against the condition and the resources needed to be shared equally amongst districts. The former CEO of Korlebu Teaching Hospital mentioned improved health outcomes and equity responsiveness, financial risk protection and efficiency as the four main goals expected from the health sector. He explained that functional challenges where health professional compete for roles in the healthcare sector was hampering the health transformation agenda, citing the case of medical assistants and physicians. He pointed out poor attitudes and behaviours of health officials towards their patients as another setback to the transformation of the health sector. Consequently, he called for the introduction of non-medical subjects such as Social Sciences, health seeking behaviour, basic economics, among others, to help change this negative trend in the healthcare delivery.  He noted that the provision of healthcare and medicine was more felt in the hospitality industry than in pure healthcare. “The good attributes of healthcare and medicine are probably are now felt in the hospitality industry than in the pure healthcare. It is about the nice ward, clean bed, excuse me, thank you, sorry, may I help you, thank you for coming to us, how may I be of service to you are all missing,” he added.   Dr. Buckle admitted that the execution of transformation was not easy to achieve because it required fundamentally far reaching changes in thoughts, mindsets and change in attitudes. He added that transforming the healthcare system called for humility amongst healthcare professionals in the discharge of their duties, stressing that “Transformation is about the people who should drive the change.”   The Chairman for the lecture, who is also the Dean of the School of Medical Sciences, Prof. Francis Offei, thanked the speaker for the insight and called for the transformation of health facilities into hospitality service area and massive improvement of  hospitals in the country to enhance quality healthcare delivery.    

"A good entrepreneur identifies opportunities, takes advantage, solves a problem and benefits from the result", Mr. George A. Ben-Smith, Vice Chairman, Cape Coast Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCRCCI), said this at a seminar organized by the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Small Enterprise Development (CESED) for level 400 students of School of Business, University of Cape Coast. The objective of the seminar was to encourage the final students to develop entrepreneurial ideas, identify business opportunities and to intensify networking. In his presentation, Mr. Ben-Smith, the Guest Speaker and an alumnus of the University affirmed that passion and perseverance are two outstanding qualities of successful entrepreneurs.  He said, " start to create business plans, review and evaluate them frequently, think through and implement them. Start now, keep financial records of your activities, be committed to little investments and raise good capital for business expansion."  He admonished the students to be committed to studies and gain knowledge and skills to become good entrepreneurs. He further challenged the students to participate in entrepreneurship seminars, workshops and events and to learn from renowned entrepreneurs across the globe. Other key personalities at the event were Dr. Edward Amarteifio (Coordinator for UCC Business Incubator) , Dr. Keren Arthur (Lecturer) and Mr. Dominic Owusu (Lecturer)