Government to support Apostle Kwadwo Safo - Frimpong-Boateng

Government will assist Apostle Dr Kwadwo Safo, the Founder and Leader of Christo Asafo Church, to successfully go through the licensing, intellectual property registration, trade secrecy and patenting regimes for three of his agro inputs, Minister for Environment, Science Technology and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has disclosed.

They comprise an organic fertilizer, a pesticide and a weedicide, which are safe for both human and animal use.

This forms part of a partnership being developed to support and promote his innovations in a win-win situation for him and the State.

Apostle Safo plans to build a production facility in Agogo, in the Ashanti Region to produce the products in commercial quantities, which would be cheaper for uptake.

As part of the initial steps of the partnership, a two-member delegation, made up of Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and Mr Oliver Boakye, a Special Advisor at the Ministry, paid a familiarisation visit to Christo Asafo’s three innovation hubs in Gomoa Odambo and Mpota in the Central region.

Prof Frimpong-Boateng explained that it was a top priority of the Government to support and commercialise the inventions, especially the agro-inputs, to enable the country to address the pest and disease challenges.

The expansion and the commercial production of Apostle Safo’s agro products, in larger quantities the Minister said, would help reduce the importation of the chemical agro products and relieve the stress on the nation’s forex.

The biodiversity-friendly fertiliser has a fertility lifespan of six years, while the pesticide apart from ridding livestock and plants off pests, aided pollination.

The weedicide also kills unwanted plants by halting photosynthesis within 11 hours of its application.

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said, “If we want to live fruitful lives, we need to urgently develop our local capacity and expand the agricultural sector to meet the basic necessity of life, thus cheaply feeding ourselves.

“I have never seen any country that has survived and developed without the ability of its people using local means to ensure food security and defending themselves. Overall, we need to appreciate and eat what we grow.”

He praised Apostle Safo for showing the way by turning virtually grasslands in parts of the Gomoa area into a tropical rainforest, with tree species that were both medicinal and timber-oriented.

The forest, Prof Frimpong-Boateng stated, was home to all manner of animal species and traditional spices, “which are facing extinction in our part of the world.”

Apostle Safo welcomed the Government’s support and stated that he was ready for the partnership to develop the country, especially to actualise its Ghana Beyond Aid Policy.

He said there were many innovations in the offing to address many of the social challenges, including addressing poor sanitation and enhancing waste recycling.

“ I have the knowledge and expertise to address and develop technologies you can think of,”he stated.

“I have done many, such as weeding and sweeping implements, but they were not taken seriously. I am willing to even enhance those technologies if only the Government will support its uptake.”