The Founder of Blue Skies Foundation, producers of Blue Skies natural fruit drinks, Dr. Anthony Pile has expressed fears about the continuous survival and operationalization of the company in Ghana due to the country’s inability to increase its production of pineapples to feed the local factories.
According to him, Ghana is gradually losing her grip on agriculture as her attention and focus is drifted towards the oil and gas sector in particular.
Dr. Pile said Ghana’s agricultural sector currently does not have the requisite capacity to produce adequate pineapples as raw material to support his factory.
The Management of Blue Skies, he indicated, was considering looking elsewhere specifically Benin, where pineapple production is on a high scale.
Speaking to the media recently at the commissioning of school building projects constructed by the Blue Skies Foundation at Panpaso and Nova communities near Doboro in the Akuapem South District of the Eastern Region, Dr. Pile said only 27 farmers in Ghana are able to supply Blue Skies with pineapples as compared to 3,700 pineapple farmers feeding their factory [Blue Skies] in Benin.
He hinted that management of Blue Skies has plans to import pineapples from Benin so that it would be able to stay in business and supply their numerous customers in Ghana.
Dr. Pile insisted that it was the responsibility of the government to encourage more Ghanaians to seriously embrace agriculture as a major business to boost the local economy. He said that many people were drifting away from the rural areas where lands were readily available to actively engage in agriculture to the urban areas in search for office jobs.
School building constructed by Blue Skies Foundation
Dr. Pine expressed the need for the government, civil society organisations, policy makers and other stakeholders to take a second look at the agricultural sector for improved productivity.
Blue Skies currently employs over 3,000 Ghanaians and also contributes to the development of Ghana in diverse ways.
On her part, the Headmistress of the School, Alice Oduro said, due to the lack of toilet facility in the school, pupils usually practice open defecation which was dangerous to their health, adding that, those whose houses were near the school often go home to ease themselves.
She said such activity was hindering the teaching and learning process since studies are often interrupted when pupils leave the class to attend to natures’ call.
The Headmistress said, several efforts to reach the assembly to complete a toiler facility which was constructed by Engineers Without Borders, an American student project had proved futile.
Within the last 10 years, the Blue Skies Foundation has constructed over 100 projects in Africa including 42 educational projects, 39 water and sanitation projects, 10 health and wellbeing projects.
, December 16, 2019