Minister Visits CSIR Institutions

The Minister for MESTI Dr. Kwaku Afriyie (MP) paid a working visit to two institutes under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), namely, the CSIR-Institute of Industrial Research (IIR) and CSIR-Food Research Institute (FRI) in Accra.

The objective of the visit was to familiarize himself with operations of the institutions and to outline his vision and priority areas for the sector.

Speaking at the CSIR -Food Research Institute, Dr. Afriyie stated, “Food remains one of the basic needs of man. This explains why the issue of meeting requirements of humanity engages the attention of all governments”.

He indicated that the sovereignty of any country lies in it’s ability to feed herself and becoming self-sufficient in the basic food staples.

Dr. Afriyie added that CSIR- Food Research Institute has contributed significantly to improvement in household, traditional and commercial food processing and nutrition security as well as the general development of the Agricultural and Industrial Sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

Also at the CSIR-Institute of Industrial Research (IIR), the Minister, disclosed that government was making efforts to improve funding of scientific research and its infrastructure, so that the CSIR can continue to deliver on its mandate.

Dr. Afriyie commended CSIR for it’s services over the years and urged leadership of the various institutions to put in place appropriate mechanism to commercialize their products and services on a large scale.

The Minister was accompanied by the Chief Director, Mrs Cynthia Asare Bediako, Special Advisor, Mr Oliver Boachie, Director PPME, Mrs Lydia Essuah, Director Environment, Mr Peter Dery, Esq. and other officials of the Ministry.