IAST Roundtable Discussion between UG Faculty and NBSSI Members

 

On Thursday, 11th August 2016, the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) provided a programme in order to share client-focused challenges with a multidisciplinary team of academics and members and executives of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI).  The programme aimed at strategizing on possible solutions for upgrading the research and development of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), including food processing industries. Professor Boateng Onwona-Agyeman, Dean of the School of Engineering Sciences, chaired the one-day roundtable discussion.

 

The participants of the Roundtable Discussion

 

Prof. Boateng Onwona-Agyeman, Dean, School of Engineering Sciences, presided over the meeting and Dr. David Dodoo-Arhin (Ag. Director; IAST)

 

The Director of the Women Entrepreneurship of NBSSI, Ms. Habiba Sumani, enumerated some of the major challenges that MSEs face in the country.  These include developing products without scientific basis, unreliable power supply, difficulty in meeting the standards of the Ghana Standards Authority, and difficulty in accessing loans. She proposed a multi-layered partnership between IAST and NBSSI to enhance quicker access to grants and loans for MSEs, and between IAST, NBSSI, and the University of Ghana Business School for technical and business advice.

 

Ms. Habiba Sumani, Director, Women Entrepreneurship, NBSSI making submissions on some challenges of MSEs in the country

 

 

A member of MSEs making a submission

The University of Ghana was represented by faculty from the Business School, Departments of Nutrition and Food Science, Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry Cell and Molecular Biology, Material Science and Engineering, Food Process Engineering, Marine and Fisheries, Plant and Environmental Biology, and WACCBIP.

 

UG Faculty addressed some of the challenges of the MSEs

 

The discussion ended with a proposal for the setting up of a dedicated space where industry and academia can meet regularly for the purpose of enhancing and maintaining the quality of industrial products. 

 

A session of the participants listening to a submission

 

The interactions were climaxed with exhibitions from the MSEs with various locally made products

 

 

Packed "Dzowe"

Packaged honey

 

Producer in talk with a participant