Ghana, state benefits focus of symposium

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MELISSA SUE GERRITS - 08/28/2014 - Alderman James Bolden from Jacksonville, leans in to speak to Paramount King Togbe Dagadu VIII, representing traditional rule from Ghana before he and (left and right of Togbe) Mama Komla Teng III the Queen Mother of Kpando and Women's Leader Kuada Yawa of the North Dayia District, speak on a panel discussion about culture and agriculture August 28, 2014. The delegates met at the Arkansas Municipal League Building with representatives of their sister city, Harrison, to discuss further relations and learn about one another's culture and agricultural practices.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MELISSA SUE GERRITS - 08/28/2014 - Alderman James Bolden from Jacksonville, leans in to speak to Paramount King Togbe Dagadu VIII, representing traditional rule from Ghana before he and (left and right of Togbe) Mama Komla Teng III the Queen Mother of Kpando and Women's Leader Kuada Yawa of the North Dayia District, speak on a panel discussion about culture and agriculture August 28, 2014. The delegates met at the Arkansas Municipal League Building with representatives of their sister city, Harrison, to discuss further relations and learn about one another's culture and agricultural practices.

Among the business suits and ties worn by attendees at a symposium on sustainable farming Thursday in North Little Rock, some participants dressed in kente -- the traditional, brightly colored cloth from Ghana's Volta region.

Some patterns on the gowns have meaning, said Paramount King Togbe Dagadu VIII, who wore a kente garment over his shoulder that had swirly symbols meaning "accept God."

Dagadu was one of six traditional and elected leaders from the West African country who participated in the event, held at the Arkansas Municipal League building.

Some participants were part of a Sister Cities delegation that was recently denied a visit to Harrison over concerns in that city about the Ebola virus. While Ebola cases have been reported in four West African countries -- Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone -- there are none documented in Ghana, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Major partners in Harrison's sister city effort included North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, North Arkansas College and the Harrison School District, Harrison Mayor Jeff Crockett said.

Despite the change in plans, there are no hard feelings, said Prince Kwame Kludjeson, founder and chief operating officer of Africa Global Sister Cities.

"There is no situation," Kludjeson said, referring to efforts to establish a Sister Cities relationship between Harrison and the North Dayi district of Ghana. "We are going to do it anyway."

Since they arrived last Friday, the Ghanaian guests have been staying in Jacksonville, where they visited a high school, and toured Little Rock Air Force Base and a military museum. Jacksonville is considering Kpando in Ghana as a sister city.

The focus of the meeting in North Little Rock was to establish how a long-term relationship involving Arkansas cities, especially those in the state's Delta, and the 25 districts in the Volta region in Ghana could benefit all of them.

In 2013, Arkansas exported $5.5 million worth of goods to Ghana, said Denise Thomas, director of external relations for the World Trade Center Arkansas. Ghana, on the other hand, exported less than $20,000 worth of goods to Arkansas last year.

"My goal is to facilitate bilateral trade between small and medium-size companies in Arkansas and Africa," Thomas said at the symposium. "We have five or six targeted countries, and Ghana is one of them."

Halfway through this year, Arkansas has exported only $1.8 million worth of goods to Ghana.

That means there's room for growth, Thomas said.

Tilapia, cocoa, mangoes, papayas, timber, crafts and gold are a few of the products Ghana could export to Arkansas, especially if investors got to that country to help develop those industries, Dagadu said.

Since there is no domestic chicken production in Ghana, Arkansas could export poultry or set up academic exchanges to help Ghanaians learn how to raise the birds, participants said.

Midway through the day, Lake Village Mayor JoAnne Bush said she was unsure how her community could contribute to an economic relationship.

In July, the City Council in the small Chicot County city passed on the opportunity to host the delegation.

"We're open to a sister city, but we're a small city, so most of it [the hosting] would have had to be done on a volunteer basis," she said. "I know what they have to offer us, but I'm still not sure what we have to offer them."

Part of Thursday's symposium involved a cultural exchange.

A business relationship cannot be established if one culture doesn't understand how the other works, Kludjeson said.

"If people want to set up industry in Ghana, it must be brought to the king because he is the custodian of the land," he said.

Crockett said learning about a culture through the Sister Cities program would benefit Harrison residents.

"We could have a cultural exchange, an educational exchange," Crockett said at the symposium. "They can learn things we've done and gone through, and we can learn about them."

Dwight D. Eisenhower established Sister Cities International in 1956 for that reason.

According to its website, Sister Cities International spans 140 countries on six continents, working to advance peace and prosperity through cultural, educational, humanitarian and economic development exchanges.

Sherman Banks of Little Rock, president emeritus of Sister Cities International, spearheaded the symposium in North Little Rock.

"We are working to bridge the gap between domestic cities and international cities," Banks said. "Public diplomacy is never as strong as citizens working together."

State Desk on 08/29/2014

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