A researcher at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr. Yeboah Woode, has invented a new kiln machine to burn cocoa pod husks into ash for potassium carbonate manufacture. Potassium carbonate is a chemical which could be used in the manufacture of glass, salt, soap, detergents, printing ink, fertilizer and dehydrating agents. Sponsored by Support Programme for Enterprise Empowerment and Development (SPEED-GHANA), a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Ghana, the machine has the capacity to convert cocoa pod husks which normally go waste in cocoa growing areas and communities to potassium carbonate. Launching the machine at Mankranso in the Ahafo-Ano South District, Dr Woode, who is the head of the research team, said the purpose of the machine was to assist government in poverty alleviation programmes and that the machine would be effective and safe to extract ash for potash. He said the machine has a lot of socio-economic benefits to cocoa farmers, especially the youth in cocoa growing areas, since it would serve as employment for them. It is meant to maintain a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius when in use and has a life span of 5 years. Nana Owusu Amankwatia Sampene II, the chief of the area, said in a speech read on his behalf that he welcomed the innovation and assured him of their support. Source: GNA