Mavis Owureku-Asare

Mavis Owureku-Asare is a Ghanaian food scientist.

Quotes

• We can begin by feeding our families especially children with some locally processed cereals and snacks such as "asana", "nkati cake", kube toffee", and "adakoa" which is made from maize, ground nuts and spices and highly nutritious than some processed snacks imported into the country (Ghana).
  • Samuel Hinneh, Food scientist creates competitive advantage for food processors, Ghana Web, 4 June 2016.

• Vitamin C quickly breaks down in the heat and evaporates easily out of the fruit. What is orange without Vitamin C.
  • 5 Accra markets sell ‘dangerous’ food items to consumers - Research, Ghana Web, 3 May 2019.

• I developed the solar dryer using available materials to process fresh tomato to high-quality tomato powder that can be reconstituted to tomato paste and used in the formulation of food.
  • Masahudu Ankiilu, Linking Research to Industry Is Never an Easy Task, But Dr Mavis Owureku-Asare Is Showing the Way, African Eye Report, November 20, 2020.

• We as scientists tend to focus a lot more on our research work but we need to figure out a way to promote the outputs of our research. This requires branding and effective communication to consumers and key stakeholders.
  • Masahudu Ankiilu, Linking Research to Industry Is Never an Easy Task, But Dr Mavis Owureku-Asare Is Showing the Way, African Eye Report, November 20, 2020.

• I have had to jump many hurdles to get to where I am now and it hasn’t been easy as a professional, wife and mother but what keeps me going are the success stories of the food processors and farmers I engage on a day to day basis. They are my inspiration—I love the practical solutions I offer which potentially improves their businesses and livelihoods.
  • Masahudu Ankiilu, Linking Research to Industry Is Never an Easy Task, But Dr Mavis Owureku-Asare Is Showing the Way, African Eye Report, November 20, 2020.

• I did not know whether I would be in the culinary industry or be in marketing of foods. But as a General Science student at Wesley Girl’s High School, I discovered from my interaction with a nutritionist, that food could be studied as a science. So, I could better appreciate food because it goes beyond the aesthetics. There is science to it.
  • Masahudu Ankiilu, Linking Research to Industry Is Never an Easy Task, But Dr Mavis Owureku-Asare Is Showing the Way, African Eye Report, November 20, 2020.

• It doesn’t necessarily have to be medicine. You know how our parents and the society at large expect that once you are a science student, then the best career option is to be a medical doctor. I respect the medical field a lot but I think this pressure we put on our children to become medical doctors has negative impact on our kids especially when they are not able to make the cut to the medical school. You don’t have to be a medical doctor to become the best that you can be as a science student.
  • Masahudu Ankiilu, Linking Research to Industry Is Never an Easy Task, But Dr Mavis Owureku-Asare Is Showing the Way, African Eye Report, November 20, 2020.

• I want to inspire girls in STEM to believe that it is possible to pursue a fulfilling career in any scientific discipline.
  • Masahudu Ankiilu, Linking Research to Industry Is Never an Easy Task, But Dr Mavis Owureku-Asare Is Showing the Way, African Eye Report, November 20, 2020.

• It is a call to duty to play a role in mentoring the next generation. Because science is not an easy field and most people get discouraged along the way. I’m really passionate about doing that.
  • Masahudu Ankiilu, Linking Research to Industry Is Never an Easy Task, But Dr Mavis Owureku-Asare Is Showing the Way, African Eye Report, November 20, 2020.

• We have what it takes as Ghanaians and scientists to provide solutions that are tailored towards our needs in Ghana. We do not always need to import ideas and technologies that may not even work out for us. It seems that we are good at importing solutions that we feel we need. This is also because we have not been able to look for them ourselves. We are just importing. Sometimes they are even dumped on us. And when we try to apply them on the field or farmers try to adopt them, it does not work. So, it is important for us to develop our own solutions.
  • Nerteley Nettey, #CitiBusinessFestival: Ghanaian scientists must be supported to offer solutions – Food Safety Expert, Citi Business News, June 30, 2020.

• It is very important for us to support scientists here in Ghana. Science, Research, Technology and innovation demands a lot of funding. That is one thing we very much lose sight of because we feel that it takes a long time to get a product or solution so we do not want to invest. But these are core to our development.
  • Nerteley Nettey, #CitiBusinessFestival: Ghanaian scientists must be supported to offer solutions – Food Safety Expert, Citi Business News, June 30, 2020.

Tomato is a crop of high economic importance in Ghana, yet providing farmers with reliable processing facilities has been challenging for successive governments. Processing factories had been built, but a number of factors including the complexity of setting up and high cost of running these facilities led to their closure.

• [1]

• These challenges are creating enormous problems for farmers who are the suppliers of the raw materials. This problem is not only affecting farmers but the country as a whole. Ghana is ranked the second-largest importer of tomato paste in the world, we consume an average of 25,000 tonnes of tomato paste every year and that costs us about $25 million.
  • [2]

• Yes, while consumers are enjoying their imported pastes, our local tomato farmers struggle to make a living. And it gets worse, our dependence on imported paste plays a role in rendering our farmers unemployed.
  • [3]

• As tomato imports continue to rise in volumes, about 1,250 Ghanaian tomato farmers stand the risk of being pushed out of employment. According to The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), over 700 tomato farmers have already been rendered unemployed as a result of the imports.
  • [4]

• To cut down on the importation, we need to invest in processing facilities. Alternative, inexpensive but efficient small-scale tomato processing methods are needed: 1) to absorb excess supply and enhance the value chain; 2) Reduce the country’s dependence on imported tomato paste and provide employment opportunities.
  • [5]

• Ghana’s religious adherence to the rules of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO) will not allow her to make the investments in the form of subsidy to guarantee market or export subsidies to her farmers. More so, she cannot protect Ghanaian farmers from the onslaught of cheap imports by way of tariffs and quotas imposition. So the best way to support these farmers is promoting local domestic processing.
  • [6]