The price of cocoa on the global market soared to a record high in April, but African farmers are struggling to make ends meet. In countries like Ghana, the local pricing system has left many frustrated and hopeless. In the Afigya Kwabre district of Ghana's Ashanti region, people like Kingsley Owusu are known for growing Ghana's leading cash crop. Owusu and his community have been growing cocoa beans for over 30 years. For many years, the cocoa harvest allowed him to take care of his children, who have all grown to adulthood. But now, at the age of 60, Owusu is worried about his own livelihood. "My production levels have gone down because of climate change and diseases. And illegal mining activities are also contributing to this," Owusu told DW, adding that he barely makes enough to get by. Owusu used to produce about 10 bags of cocoa per season, but now he struggles to fill even three. As a result, he has far less cash in hand than he used to. Ghana steps in to help farmers The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), which regulates the sector, recently announced that it would significantly increase what it pays cocoa farmers per ton. COCOBOD said in a statement that "the increase in the producer price of cocoa has become necessary to enhance the income of cocoa farmers." From the previous rate of 20,928 Ghanaian cedis (€1,460/$1,557) per ton, it pledged an increase of nearly 60%, meaning it would pay farmers 33,120 cedis per ton moving forward. That translates to 2,070 cedis per bag of cocoa with a gross weight of 64 kilograms. But farmers like Owusu have taken issue with the government's new pricing policy. Ghana farmers feel left out of decision-making "Per the world price, we should be receiving more," he told DW, highlighting that this month, the price of cocoa on the world market had reached $10,000 per ton. The price for cocoa is chiefly determined at commodity futures markets in New York and London, which are largely driven by supply and demand. However, the way cocoa beans are sold is based on different standards in each country, with cocoa trading systems across Africa often varying greatly in their structures. In Ivory Coast, for example, the leading producer on the continent, farmers can sell their beans to cooperatives which they belong to, or they can trade directly with private buying companies. But in Ghana, the world's second-largest exporter of the precious bean, there is a long-established mechanism which limits farmers in a number of ways. They cannot trade with external buyers, and thus lack control over their own pricing. They can only sell their beans to the state agency COCOBOD, which then trades that product on the global market. Moses Djan Asiedu, board secretary of the West African Cocoa Farmers Organization, agrees with the concerns voiced by local farmers in Ghana. "COCOBOD is a pricemaker, and the price established [is] beyond [the control of] the farmers. And we think that the facility that is establishing the price is not a fair thing," he told DW. Ghana's centralized cocoa policy aims to stabilize market Meanwhile, the spokesperson for COCOBOD, Fiifi Boafo, told DW that when cocoa prices on the global market increase, it does not immediately affect farmers' pockets. "The increment in price [changes] at the international market is something that we get excited about — excited because this provides farmers with opportunities to improve revenue," he explained, adding that they deal in "forward sales" with farmers. But Ghana's policy of forwarding cocoa sales prices means producers are reliant on the prices the government agrees to, without having an independent say in the matter. COCOBOD said this policy is intended to allow for both the government and cocoa-producing farmers to have some collective control over the mechanisms of supply and demand on the commodities market, securing future cocoa supplies to address any risks in price volatility while also stabilizing the market. But Asiedu said this arrangement leaves cocoa-producing countries like Ghana helpless in securing fair pricing for all, and said this must change. "There is no fairness. That is why COCOBOD also agrees to [accept] whatever is given," he said. Malawi's first and only female chocolate farmer Asiedu said local farmers in Ghana deserve to get more than just a fraction of the price their beans are sold for, and blames government involvement in the production process for shortchanging producers. "The government only [looks at] the cost involved in handling the cocoa before they offer a price for the farmers," he told DW. Boafo agreed that this policy of forward selling Ghana's cocoa may not present farmers with opportunities to reap the full benefits of their output, especially now that prices are up on the world market. However, he believes Ghana's policy also has its benefits, and that is has protected farmers in the past by establishing reliable rates for their crops. Are farmers facing an untamable market? According to Asiedu of the West African Cocoa Farmers Organization, Ghana might be running out of time to save the cocoa sector. Many farmers are either abandoning their businesses or retiring without having anyone who could inherit their farm. "Most farmers, about 70%, are overaged. And they lack the strength to maintain their farms, especially if they do not get enough money [...] for their labor. So they abandon their farms," Asiedu explained. To halt this trend, both Ivory Coast and Ghana took an unusual step in 2019 to improve farmers' living conditions. They declared that cocoa buyers would have to pay an additional premium of $400 per metric ton of cocoa beans purchased to compensate for the changing and aging cocoa labor market — the so-called living income differential. However, a new study by the humanitarian organization Oxfam, released at the World Cocoa Conference, shows that this approach has failed, partly on account of the rising commodity prices. But the policy also crashed in part because traders also pay a negotiated premium for cocoa that is based on qualities like taste, fat content or bean size — what is called the "country differential." "At least if [the price on the global market] came in at a certain level where the farmer would always be comfortable enough to still produce and the buyer would also be able to afford [cocoa], we could sustain this," Boafo told DW. "But in this situation, where the market is not working in the interest of the cocoa farmer, it becomes difficult for the sustainability of the industry." Oxfam's study reveals that cocoa buyers simply reduced the country differentials for Ivory Coast and Ghana after these countries had introduced the $400 premium to support farmers. No more chocolate? Meanwhile, there is already another major crisis brewing on the cocoa horizon in these two leading producer countries: production levels have gone down drastically in recent years. In the crop season between 2021 and 2022, Ghana produced about 750,000 metric tons of cocoa beans. But since then, cocoa production has dropped sharly. Ghana's cocoa output for the season lasting between 2023 and 2024 is now expected to be down by almost 40%. Boafo said this shortage of beans was the trigger for recent prices surpassing $10,000 per ton on the world market.  Asiedu explained that in addition to not fetching fair prices for cocoa beans, the sector also faces serious threats from climate change and other factors. "We now have unusual rainfall, unusual sunshine, and sometimes you cannot predict this. We also have quite a number of [other] issues, like diseases, which farmers would have to control," he told DW. "And sometimes access to chemicals to combat [diseases] also becomes an issue." Boafo added that in order to protect the sector and fight global warming, smart farming methods needed to be adopted. "Climate change is a major concern," he said. "It is key that we are able to deal with the effects of climate change." But whether the issue is climate change, commodity prices, pests, output rates or incentives to continue the cocoa trade, it would appear that the countries that produce the precious beans don't have much power to influence the price outcome. That power, it seems, lies almost exclusively with the chocolate buyers and their middlemen.  

People always fret about Hong Kong’s eroding competitiveness compared to other leading Asian cities. But the clear and present danger may be its lack of competitiveness against other major mainland cities, especially those in the Greater Bay Area. It’s not that it is in danger of becoming “just another mainland city”; if only that were so. Rather, it’s already subpar to its urban cousins across the border. Witness the exodus of local people travelling en masse to shop and dine in Shenzhen and other nearby places. Just a few years ago, many of them wouldn’t dream of setting foot in mainland China, as they tried to lay waste to Hong Kong in a frenzy of rebellion and destruction against the local and central governments, in riots even worse than those against the colonial government in 1967. Now, many have thrown caution to the wind and no longer fear being followed, tracked, surveilled or even detained and jailed, supposedly. Mainland shops, restaurants and cinemas are just too good, cheap and attractive for them to worry about all that now. Change the narrative and you change the whole picture. Never say political restrictions do not work. Once you have neutralised the anti-government opposition and got rid of their foreign supporters, Hong Kong people go where they naturally would have gone. Once artificial barriers are removed, water flows where it naturally goes to find its levels. So now they embrace a new cross-border lifestyle they once rejected. High-speed rail and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge have cut travel times to less than an hour. A new Costco wholesale store has become practically a tourist attraction for Hongkongers. Malls, restaurants and neighbourhood shops are better and cheaper, and offer more variety than those in Hong Kong. Not too long ago, people in Hong Kong complained about mainland visitors and called them names such as “locusts”, for swarming shopping districts and buying up everything, from baby milk formula to properties. Now the shoe is on the other foot; they are jamming the streets of Shenzhen. But mainlanders tend to be far more tolerant and magnanimous. More Hongkongers are going north not only for shopping, but also for work. According to a Hong Kong Guangdong Youth Association survey from last year, 66 per cent of Hongkongers under the age of 40 would not mind working on the mainland, up from just 22 per cent in 2020. Mainland wages may be lower but so is the cost of living. More Hong Kong people visited Shenzhen last month than at any other time since records began in the mid-1980s. Meanwhile, fewer visitors are coming to Hong Kong and, those who do, spend much less than before. Shenzhen and the rest of Guangdong province are just more enticing than Hong Kong. Our Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu likes to say mainland integration is “a win-win” for both sides. But it’s starting to look like a win-lose. And we all know who the loser is. Hong Kong may yet retain its status as a key regional financial services and intermediation hub. But in the past two decades, it made itself the centre of global attention for all the wrong reasons. Instead of educating themselves and discovering and making the most of their talents, many young people, misled by some local opposition politicians and foreign influences, preferred to destructively pursue what they called “democracy”. All that time, Shenzhen quietly developed and became a leading regional tech hub, with a gross domestic product that now exceeds that of Hong Kong. It’s only natural that the city is being swallowed up by the mainland and overshadowed by Shenzhen. Unless Hong Kong learns to up its game, it will be no more than an appendage to Shenzhen – it used to be the other way around – and a footnote to the development of the Greater Bay Area.   Source: South China Morning Post

The US space agency lost contact with the Voyager 2 probe after a series of routine commands misdirected its antenna. Now flight controllers are hoping to reposition the spacecraft, which is traveling between stars. NASA on Tuesday picked up a "heartbeat signal" from the Voyager 2 space probe after it went silent late last month. Voyager 2 was launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets of the solar system. It was designed to last 12 years but continued to beam data back to Earth for more than three decades. However, late last month, flight controllers accidentally sent a wrong command causing the spacecraft's antenna to point away from Earth, making it unable to receive commands or transmit data. NASA then used the Deep Space Network, its global network of giant radio antennas, to finally reestablish contact with the space probe on Tuesday. "So we know the spacecraft is alive and operating," Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd told the AFP news agency. "This buoyed our spirits." What's next for Voyager 2? Flight controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California now attempt to reposition Voyager 2's antenna back towards Earth. If this command doesn't work — and controllers doubt it will — NASA will have to wait until October for an automatic spacecraft reset. The antenna is only 2% off-kilter. "That is a long time to wait, so we'll try sending up commands several times" before then, Dodd said. Voyager 2 is the first and only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune. In December 2018, it left the solar system's protective magnetic bubble known as the heliopsphere and is now travelling through space between stars, some 19 billion kilometers (12 billion miles) from Earth. ts twin, Voyager 1, is even further away at 24 billion kilometers (15 billion miles) from Earth, making it humanity's most distant spacecraft. Both space probes carry so-called "Golden Records" — 12-inch, gold-plated disks that contain photos and audio selected to portray the diversity of life on Earth to any potential extraterrestrial life that may encounter them. In roughly 296,000 years, Voyager 2 is expected to pass by the star Sirius at a distance of 4.3 light-years.

Sri Lanka is a 'dazzling' team in this year's Women's T20 World Cup. They started world cup their campaign with a 'stunning' win against hosts South Africa. However, despite losing wickets of their batting innings against Bangladesh, the Lankan girls won by 7 wickets with 10 balls to spare.  However, the match was in the 'pocket' of the Tigresses till the 11th over of the second innings. On Sunday night, Bangladesh won the toss and batted first in the match held at Newlands, Cape Town.  Facing the first ball, opener Murshida Khatun was run out. But the four top and middle order batsmen add some runs in the board. Opener Shamima Sultana scored 20 off 13 balls, Sobhana Mostary scored 29 off 32 balls and captain Nigar Sultana scored 28 off 34 balls. Bangladesh national women's team put a total 126 runs for 8 wickets as they failed to meet the expectations in the end. In response, the Sri Lanka women's team lost three wickets for 25 runs in just 5.2 overs. From there, the team made a century partnership and won the match. Sri Lankan opener Harshitha Madavi played an unbeaten innings of 69 runs off 50 balls to win the team with the help of eight fours and one six. Nilakshi de Silva also contributed and scored 41 runs off 38 balls with two fours. After 11th overs of the match, the Lankan girls scored only 54 runs for 3 wickets.  But in the end, Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets.

Awami League general secretary Obaidul Qauder on Thursday said garment factories around Dhaka have been reopened on a limited scale as there is a risk of losing international market of RMG products due to corona crisis. Factory owners were asked to use the workers who are staying in Dhaka now, he said in a videoconference connected from his residence before distributing food items among poor people by the party's relief sub-committee at the Awami League president's political office in Dhanmondi in the morning. “The owners have also accepted it. But many workers are returning to Dhaka out of fear of losing their jobs. The owners have been urged to live up to their promises in this regard,” he said. Quader also said the list of homeless and floating people will be prepared in coordination with the administration to make arrangements for their shelter. The Awami League general secretary said the corona crisis will be tackled with courage and patience under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Source: UNB AH

To keep the semifinal dream alive Bangladesh are on field against Afghanistan. In the stage of World Cup cricket the fight between the ten teams has turned critical. Sri Lanka brought down the flying Enland and fuelled the process. Thus hope for other teams have been created. The team tigers do not want to miss the opportunity. To keep the hope live they have to win all the matches scheduled. The fighters of Mashrafe were defeated against New Zealand after a good fight. Their fight against mighty Australia has won the hearts of cricket loving fans throughout the world. Now the followers of Steve Rhodes are hungry for win. On the other hand Afghans have played brave cricket against Australia. In the next match they shook India though were defeated. At the moment they are in cheerful mind for their fighting performance. They want to test the Bangladesh team with their spin depended bowling. In this situation Afghanistan at Rose Bowl in Southampton have won the toss and decided to field first. Mohammad Saifuddin and Mosaddek are back in the Bangladesh team after recovering from injury. Rubel and Sabbir have been dropped. On the other hand Hazratullah Zazai and Aftab Alam were dropped from the team of Afghanistan. Daulat Zadran and Samiullah Shinwari were included. Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicket-keeper), Liton Das, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (captain), Mustafizur Rahman. Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Gulbadin Naib (captain), Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Alikhil (wicket-keeper), Rashid Khan, Aftab Alam, Mujeeb Ur Rahman. AH      

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, we the two sisters lost our family in seventy five. I have found lakhs of brothers after losing three brothers. But the people of Bangladesh lost their spirit of independence, spirit of liberation war. After 1975 children, teenagers could not know the history of liberation war. History was distorted. She said these in her speech at a program on the occasion of 99th birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and National Children's Day at Tungipara in Gopalganj on Sunday. The Prime Minister said, the dream of Bangabandhu was that children will be like real human. I am working according to that vision. Children of today will get a beautiful life in future, that is our pledge. Greeting all presented there she said, Bangabandhu was born in this land of Tungipara, he was also laid to eternal rest here. He was born in this month and in this month he declared the independence. The Prime Minister said, if this leader was not born then we would not be able to provide our self identity as an independent nation and today the birth anniversary of that leader is being observed. He loved the country. His heart cried seeing the condition of poor from his childhood. To tell about sufferings of those people he served jail year after year. But no torture, repression even the gallows could not create any hurdle to his activities of standing beside the people. He built Bangladesh as an independent nation. Sheikh Hasina said, after 75 children-teenagers of Bangladesh could not know the real history of liberation war. History was distorted. But nobody can hide the truth. Truth has won. Today people of Bangladesh are able to know the history and in this way the speech that could not be played for 21 years, now that speech is recognized throughout the world. It has brightened the image of Bangladesh. AH     

Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukder said, this time the upazila elections will not be participatory overall as BNP is not participating. For this reason the election is at the brink of losing its magnificence. We have to conduct the elections after accepting this reality. He said these to the Returning and Assistant Returning Officers appointed in the third phase for the upazila council elections at Nirbachan Bhaban at Agargaon in the capital on Tuesday. Mahbub Talukder said, it is guessed in the fifth upazila council elections that everybody nominated for the chairman post in the election from the ruling party will be elected and no competition will be held for those posts. This is the reality. He said, the two words credibility and acceptability will not glitter if the election is not participatory. Thereafter election has to be held for formality. I think whatever the situation is we need to be careful so that the fundamental framework of election may not be affected. Mahbub Talukder said, like the national level in the local level elections also democracy is established on specific framework. If the framework is affected with special order or direction then the representatives of people become subservient. The Election Commissioner also said, the condition of voters in upazila elections is the faintest. If the fair atmosphere for the election and security for the voters are not ensured then they will not be inspired to come to the voting centers. I have earlier said, the election will be insignificant if the upazila council does not turn source of all power. AH        

About one thousand workers of Grameen Phone are at risk of losing their jobs. The company has taken initiative to implement a project named ‘CDC’ and for that reason Grameen Phone Employees Union (GPEU) thinks that the fear of losing jobs has been created in different sections including technology division. Informing their fear the workers at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity wanted government interference.  They said, fear of losing jobs of 6 hundred workers is created only in technology division of the company. GPEU president Fazlul Haque presided over the press conference while general secretary Mia Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman Masud read out the written statement. After delivering speech 12-point demand was placed on behalf of the organization. In the written speech Shafiqur Rahman Masud said that they were threatened by the company through email and also complain was filed against the names of general workers with labor directorate as the technology department workers protested the move. From 2007 total five thousand workers including three thousand permanent workers left Grameen Phone by phases. It was said at the press conference that in 2015 after making GP customer service department as outsource the jobs of temporary workers were not renewed. Nearly two hundred workers took the willing retirement package. Masud said, in 2018 a project enforced by Telenor named Project Bridge was taken to reduce workers from other divisions excluding technology and commercial divisions which will continue till 2019. In this process many were given willing retirement and more will be. GPEU president Fazlul Haque, publicity secretary Rafiqul Kabir Saikat and other leaders were present at the press conference. AH     

Hosts Bangladesh’s dream shattered again in the seven –nation 12th SAFF Suzuki Cup as Nepal brought down high flying Bangladesh to the earth beating them by 2-0 goals in the last Group A match at the flood-light Bangabandhu National Stadium in the capital on Saturday.  This was the 7th times and the 4th times in a row that Bangladesh eliminated from the group stage of the SAFF Championship since its inception in 1993. By virtue of the day’s well merited victory, Nepal smartly qualified for the semifinal as the Group A champions along with group runners-up Pakistan at the coffin of the home side.  Nepal, which yet to reach final of the SAFF championship since its inception in 1993, to play the first semifinal with Group ‘B’ runners-up either Maldives or defending champions India on September 15. On completion of Group A matches, three teams –Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh have secured six points each, but by virtue of the better goal difference (6-2) Nepal emerged group champions, Pakistan finished group runners (5-2) scoring more goal the Bangladesh (3-2).   Bangladesh started their campaign in the tournament with a 2-0 win against Bhutan before a solitary goal victory against Pakistan while Nepal lost the first game 1-2 to Pakistan and returned to the race with a 4-0 goals win against Bhutan. Experienced custodian Shahidul Alam Sohel was partly responsible for conceding the first goal in the 33rd minute as a long distance free kick of Nepalese striker Bimal Gharti Magar kissed the net slipping from grip from Bangladesh custodian, silencing the house-full local crowd. Substitute forward Nawayuk Shreshtha sealed the fate of the match scoring the 2nd goal for Himalayan nation Nepal in the 90th minute by a right footed running placing shot from danger zone beating Bangladesh defender in speed  (2-0) forcing home side to eliminate from group stage for the 4th successive occasion. Bangladesh started the day’s campaign with an easy equation of making a draw against visiting Nepal in the last group match to confirm their semifinal berth but miserably failed achieve their goal giving an opportunity to Napal to earn a must-win match. Coach Jamie Day’s boys’ started to play pressing game from the beginning while Nepal defenders tackling attacks one after another, building up a wall of four defenders and were attempting for quick counters. Bangladesh missed the first attempt in the 16th minute as midfielder Mahbubur Rahman’s right footed shot from outside the box was blocked by the goalie, off captain Jamal Bhuyan’s pass. Utilizing a cross off midfielder Nirajan Khadka, another Nepal midfielder Sunil Bal’s took a header from the center of the box in the 14th, but was went out to the right post. Bangladesh spoiled an opportunity in the 27th minute as Waly Faisal’s left footed shot from outside the box went over the crosspiece from a direct free kick, which awarded for a handball committed by Nepal forward Bharat Khawas. After a boost of taking 1-0 lead in the day’s match, Nepal took the first attempt in the 54th minute with Bharat Khawas left footed shot from the right side of the box, which was saved by goalie in the bottom left corner. Bangladesh a chance in the 50th minute as Biplu Ahmed’s left footed shot from outside the box, off Mamunul Islam pass, was blocked by defender. In the 63rd minute, Bangladesh midfielder Emon Mahmud took a right footed shot, off a Sohel Rana’s pass, from outside the box and was blocked by defender. Shakhawat Hossain Rony failed to utilize a cross pass off Waly Faisal as in the 70th minute as his header from the centre of the box was went out edging a bit high of the crosspiece. Rony again missed two successive attempts in the 78th and 80th minutes, as his left footed shot from outside the box went over the crosspiece, following his miscued header attempt from the centre of the box. Bangladesh goalie saved the post in the 87th minute punching out Sunil Bal’s right footed shot from the right side of the box from the bottom left corner of the post. Source: UNB AH