GrainPro Distributor Leads the Way in Safe Storage in Ghana

 In 2010, Nana Yaw Obeng immediately saw the potential of hermetic technology to safely store grains and seeds. His vision is paving the way to safer postharvest storage and organic preservation, not only in Ghana, but throughout the continent.

A Postharvest Technology graduate of the Natural Resource Institute in the United Kingdom, Nana returned to Ghana upon completion of his degree and worked for the government. He started Agrimat, Ltd., as a trader of agricultural inputs and machineries. It is through his business that he found out about the GrainPro® SuperGrainbag®, a hermetic liner bag with superior air and water barriers to stop infestation and inhibit fungal growth without using chemicals. 

Harvest season is a busy time for the Agrimat team when farmers flock to buy these miraculous storage bags. Each farmer buys up to 10 to 15 bags at 8 Cedis, or less than US$2 per bag. Ivy Oduro Donkyi holds Agrimat’s wholesale warehouse, where GrainPro bags are sold to retailers from all over the countryside. Ivy is on her 14th year with Agrimat and she confirms, “our clients are happy with the performance of the SuperGrainbag and they keep coming back.” At the store, we find Dora Bempong who’s been an employee for 20 years with Sophia Turkson, another 14-year employee. Dora says, “I also use the SGB at my house to store rice and since I began using it, I’ve never had any infestation problems.”

The liner bag isn’t the only hermetic solution Agrimat is offering. Tom de Bruin, who visited Agrimat last month, explains that, "as the oldest and most senior partner of GrainPro in Africa, Agrimat also sells Cocoons™, which can hermetically store up to 1050 metric tons." They are piloting a new government initiative to set up grain warehousing facilities that will help smallholder farmers safely store their crops without the use of chemicals. This puts them and hermetic storage at the forefront of food loss reduction. 

HOCKEY FIGHT GOT CORDIAL

San Jose Sharks defenceman Brenden Dillon was caught on video last weekend at the SAP Center having a civilized conversation with the player he just finished fighting. The video was a huge internet hit that is going viral and making the late night talk show rounds.

Hockey players -- tough as they are -- doesn't usually start cordial chats in the penalty box with players they just had a fight with. But that is the persona we are forced to believe in, after all, it's a rough sport. But these players are also human and moments like these are simply priceless.

Brendan Dillon was obviously wearing a microphone during the game. His opponent, Austin Watson of the Predators, chimed in a during the surreal moment.

The video starts with Dillon obviously challenging Austin to a fight. Nothing out of the ordinary among hockey players. What's awesome is that the two finished the fight with compliments of each other. You can even hear Watson telling Dillon: "Atta-boy, good job."

In the penalty box, the two players talked about going for cardio training in the off-season. Watson said, "I’ll come see Joey, we’ll mix it in this summer," to which Dillon replied, "Uh, Joey doesn’t know cardio.”The Joey in this conversation is their mutual friend and Predator forward Ryan Johansen. Before going back to the ice, the two exchanged pleasantries once more with Austin wishing Dillon good luck and the former reciprocating the sentiment.

Hockey players (especially among Canadians) are notorious for letting things go after a fight. Grudges usually aren't held except in the most extreme of circumstances. It's only natural that after the fight, the protagonists went about business as usual. This is definitely something you don't usually see in today's sport culture. 

The cool thing about this is that this kind of attitude spills over onto the streets of Canada. I remember back in 2011, I was hanging out with a few tourists in Halifax when we saw a fight at the well-loved Pizza Square section at the heart of downtown. The guys I was with were obviously agitated by what's happening and was looking to stop the fight. I had to stop them from interfering as they could just escalate it and ensuring them that they will see the most amazing thing ever. And yes, as I predicted, the fighters, dressed in their Saturday Night best, all bloodied, hugged and went about as if nothing happened as people around them cheered the release of tension. Awesome stuff and we got to eat cheeseburgers and pizza slices afterward.

It's a hockey life...a hockey culture. And it's just great to see that competition shouldn't get in the way of sportsmanship.

Rural Distribution Plays an Important Role in the Safe Preservation of Grains and Seeds in Ethiopia

“This is the first year I’m not buying chemicals to store my grain,” Baraka Nurie, the mother of three small children, revealed to Jordan Dey, GrainPro® VP for Food Security, during a visit on February in Ethiopia’s Gurage Region.

What gives? A new rural distribution strategy initiated in January 2017 by GrainPro’s Ethiopia distributor, HiTec, will give millions of small farmers access to pesticide-free and safe hermetic storage. Hermetic bags, such as GrainPro’s SuperGrainbag®, help stop infestation and inhibit the growth of aflatoxin-producing molds, while retaining the quality, color, and taste of stored grains for months, even years without using chemicals that can harm consumers.

HiTec’s strategy involves partnering with governments and local groups to conduct outreach activities that will see highly-trained agricultural extension officers visiting rural communities to train and educate farmers on hermetic storage, and establish a network of local dealers to supply the farmers.

Farmers in Ethiopia traditionally grow corn, sorghum and teff for their household consumption, keeping four or five bags (100KG) of the grain in their house.  Bugs, particularly weevils, immediately show up, infesting the grain, eating the nutritious core and reducing the contents to a powdery mess.

To combat this problem, farmers, desperate due to the lack of appropriate, affordable and alternative preservation methods during storage, are directly applying chemicals categorized under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants on their grains every couple of months. Some of these chemicals have doubtful origins and are banned internationally from use without proper training because their use can have negative health and environmental effects. 

These chemicals kill the weevils, but leave residues that threaten the health of consumers, particularly children, and farm animals. At a financial standpoint, chemical pesticides reduce the market value of their crops. Additionally, the improper use of these chemicals can lead to environmental problems and health concerns for users and their families. Given the downsides of using chemicals, hermetic storage is clearly the safer and more cost-efficient alternative.

HiTec’s strategy involves partnering with governments and local groups to conduct outreach activities that will see highly-trained agricultural extension officers visiting rural communities to train and educate farmers on hermetic storage, and establish a network of local dealers to supply the farmers. One of the dealers, Shafi Agro in Butajira, already sold 439 GrainPro bags since the program started. 

The financial incentives of storing are undeniable. In southern Ethiopia, with the harvest just in, the price for a 100 KG bag of corn is currently $19 USD. In five months, as supplies diminish, the market price will increase to $31 per bag, or a 60% gain. The small farmers can recoup the cost of their investment in hermetic bag by waiting 3 to 4 months before they sell their grain.

Despite the obvious benefits, creating the foundation for behavior change among small farmers is a long-term process and requires a long-term commitment. Sharing this effort among governments, donors, non-profits, international organizations and the technology providers is the key to catalyzing behavior change and improving the health, nutritional and financial outcomes for small farmers globally. 

And the right time to do this is now.

With increasing pressures to stop the use of dangerous pesticides on dry agricultural commodities, there is a clear desire among farmers for safer alternatives. Baraka Nurie and others in her neighborhood got it right when they decided to stop using chemicals and try out hermetic storage. Aside from the financial potential, they can be sure that their children are eating safe.

VIDEO: SUPERBOWL 51 JERSEY MYSTERY SOLVED

Finally, some positive development in Tom Brady’s missing SuperBowl 51 jersey. 

Reports are finally coming in confirming that the winning jersey was finally located after a month and a half of extensive searching by multiple law enforcement agencies in the US. This was revealed this morning after Jay Glazer, respected sports columnist, released a surveillance video on FSN’s the Herd. 

The suspect is a credentialed member of the international press and a former news director of Mexican paper La Prensa. TMZ also released photos of the suspect taking selfies with multiple NFL stars including Brady, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and legend Jerry Rice, to name a few.

The video shows that after the awarding of the Lombardi Trophy, the suspect entered the Patriots locker room at 10:04 Central Time behind head coach Bill Belichick’s entourage. He left the locker room at 10:18 CT with something tucked between his arms. Not long after, Tom Brady was caught on video telling Mr. Kraft that his jersey was stolen.

After the thrilling 34–28 victory of the Patriots in the first SuperBowl that went to overtime – christened by many as the greatest ever played – Brady handed his jersey to a staff member. He later got the jersey and placed it inside his bag only to discover that it was gone. This triggered a manhunt led by the FBI.

Brady asked the public to be informed in case it appears in bidding site Ebay.com. The jersey is estimated at $500,000 to $800,000, perhaps more with the added lore attached to it. Brady is hoping to use it to raise funds for his personal advocacies. 

Authorities have also recovered Brady’s missing SuperBowl 49 jersey. The two jerseys were authenticated and are in the process of being returned to the Patriots. They are currently linking Von Miller’s missing helmet from SuperBowl 50 with the same suspect.

Crime does not pay, and sooner or later, poor judgment will come haunting. The suspect could face felony charges of up to two years in prison, among others. Additionally, this could add fire to the debate of foreigners in America. Finally, let’s just say that nobody is going to trust this guy in any locker room.

12 Years in a Cocoon™

12 years ago, large amounts of maize were stored in Ultra Hermetic™ GrainPro Cocoons™ by the Rwanda Ministry of Agriculture. Their goal was to determine how long the Cocoons can keep commodities safe from moisture ingress, infestation and fungal growth. 

This movie documents the result of the maize that were stored in Cocoons for 12 years in Rwanda.

The Cocoons were recently opened by local agriculture experts from the Ministry of Agriculture. Inside are well-preserved maize without infestation and fungal growth. While it's not advisable to preserve commodities for such an extended period of time, this is proof that GrainPro's Cocoon can safely preserve commodities for long periods and protect it from factors that could result to its deterioration. 

The testimonials in this movie are from actual witnesses and observers who were present when the Cocoons were opened.

• GrainPro does not recommend storing maize or any other dry agricultural commodity beyond its nutritional retention and prescribed storage periods. This test was conducted for scientific purposes only.

I was given the task of producing a short documentary about GrainPro's recent success in Rwanda, where the government stored thousands of tonnes of maize (corn) in 2002, and found it's still in good condition after 12 years of storage.

The original video from the Rwandan production team is in very poor quality. I had to overhaul the script, enhance the videos, add some effects, background music and animations, and re-dub the whole movie.

After producing this enhanced version, our executives at GrainPro were very pleased. Let's just say that they realized that we can produce professional-grade movies.

Distracted Driving Is Underreported

Deaths caused by drivers on the phone were recently found to be seriously underreported. While the perils of distracted driving continue to be understated, several car accidents here are suspected to have been caused by distracted motorists who are either answering their phones or replying to text messages.

According to sources, a recent analysis of state and federal data by the National Safety Council or NSC revealed that there was strong evidence drivers involved in many accidents from 2009 to 2011 had been using a cellular device at the time.

The study also revealed that only half of the accidents from 2011 were coded in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA’s accident database as involving cellphone use. It was an improvement from previous years which saw only eight percent in 2009 and 35 percent in 2010. Yet, it is still a far cry from actual numbers that could’ve convinced lawmakers to pass new laws to prevent such distractions.

The problem seen by the NSC is the lack of effort to record the specific circumstances of each accident. Even when drivers already admitted to using their cellphones, authorities still fail to record it in the database. The NSC suspects that the number is much higher than what is being reported. Unfortunately, accurate statistics may be a definite improbability.

The NSC’s data is considered by many, including insurance companies, as the bible from which data about accidents are based. Yet, the council’s analysis found large variations among states in their reporting of distracted driving. One official told sources that unless drivers tell officers that they were on the phone, distracted driving doesn’t get reported. A subpoena is necessary in order for officers to investigate cellphone use in most states.

NHTSA acknowledged weaknesses in their data but promises that efforts are underway to strengthen collection practices by working with local authorities and lawmakers. So far 35 states have told the Governors Highway Safety Association or GHSA that they have adopted new forms to report cellphone use during accidents.

About The Author

Victor Dela Casa is a Filipino-Canadian who spent over a decade working as a business professional in Canada. Worked in IT, finance, marketing, international trade, public service, project management and the maritime industry. Earned degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines and Business Administration Honours from Eastern College. Currently based in the Philippines and working as a professional writer for a multi-national business processes firm.