The 68th Annual New Year School came to a close after four days of presentations, discussions, and field trips on the theme, ‘Promoting National Development Through Agricultural Modernization: The Role of ICT.’
In his opening remarks, the Chairperson of the programme, Professor Kwame Offei, noted that the theme of this year’s conference generated a great deal of interest among stakeholders, including the youth, government and non-government agencies because of its relevance to the national development. He added that agriculture is the bedrock of the Ghanaian economy, and efforts should be made to modernise the industry and make it globally competitive.
Prof. Offei reminded participants that countries such as the United States have only 3% of their population employed in the agricultural sector and yet manage to produce a surplus for export, whereas over 60% of Ghanaians are employed in the same sector and cannot meet the needs of the country. He attributed this situation to lack of modernisation and social security for farmers, among other constraints. He noted, however, that using such tools of modernisation as ICT are particularly difficult for most farmers because of poor network coverage and limited internet access in some districts.
Prof. Michael Ayitey Tagoe, acting Provost of the College of Education and Dean of the School of Continuing and Distance Education, reiterated the challenges of incorporating ICT in agriculture and tasked the 114 participants of the conference to examine the gap between developing plans and strategies for agricultural modernisation and implementing such plans.
Prof. Tagoe thanked especially the media for generating interest in the conference and promised that the School of Continuing and Distance Education would organise workshops at the district level for farmers and partner with the Daily Graphic news organisation for publicity and dissemination of information.
Dr Osei-Assibey, the acting Head of Department of the School of Continuing and Distance Education, read the communiqué adopted at the close of the School. The communiqué contained 11 recommendations, including the need for a national e-agriculture policy to regulate the emerging developments in the sector; the use of ICT units at the district level for the implementation of such a policy; the extension of electricity to most farming communities; the timely distribution of relevant weather information by the Ghana Meteorological Society to farmers; and the adaptation of content on climate change and agricultural financing for the education of the local farmers.
Mr. Kingsley Afful, a participant, expressed satisfaction with the School and was confident that the insights gained would educate participants. He expressed the hope that given the government’s desire to create over 750,000 jobs in the agricultural sector, the New Year School had come at an appropriate time. Mrs. Leticia Yankey, a participant was amazed at the wide participation from varied agricultural backgrounds. She expressed a desire to incorporate ICT in managing and mentoring the youth in cocoa farming in her district.
