Government must develop national policy on e-agriculture - University don
Prof. Michael A. Tagoe Provost, University of Ghana, College of Education/Dean, School of Continuing and Distance Education, has called on the government to develop a national policy on the application of information and communications technology (ICT) to agriculture, what is known as e-agriculture.
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Professor Tagoe said a national
e-agriculture policy would open up more opportunities for the youth who think that agriculture in its current state had little to offer them in terms of job opportunities and wealth creation.
“If we want our youth to be interested in agriculture then we need to tap into the resources they have and allow them to maximise these resources in agriculture.
Internet and mobile phones
“A significant number of our youth are digital natives. They use the Internet and mobile phones. Some have skills that can be applied to agriculture to transform the sector. We need to create innovation hubs for the agricultural sector, where our youth can develop innovative ICT products from conception level to production and marketing for the agricultural sector,” Prof Tagoe said.
Addressing the finalists in the Kosmos Innovation Centre (KIC) AgriTech Challenge in Accra, Prof Tagoe, stressed the importance of mobilising young people to find innovative solutions for the agricultural sector.
Explore business opportunities
He added; “We also need to assist the youth to explore business opportunities using ICTs along the agricultural value chain.”
Prof Tagoe therefore called on the government and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to create a new vision for agriculture that would be driven by ICT.
“One cannot achieve transformation of the agriculture sector in the absence of an e-agriculture policy underpinned by a strong national e-agriculture vision. We cannot continue to pay lip service to modernizing agriculture if we continue to do things in a business-as-usual fashion,” he added.
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) describes e-agriculture or ICT-enabled agriculture as the conceptualisation, design, development, evaluation and application of innovative ways to use ICT in the rural domain, with a primary focus on agriculture.
The KIC example
He expressed how happy he was about the purpose and pursuits of KIC, which is a social investment project of the leading emerging and frontier economy oil and gas exploration and production company Kosmos Energy.
Worthy example
“I am happy to say that this is what Kosmos Innovation Centre is all about. This worthy example of harnessing the creative potential of the youth and further developing their potential into business projects much become our priority as a nation. In our universities and secondary schools, there are budding minds that can be unleashed through such programmes,” he stated.
Prof. Tagoe recounted the ICT for development (ICT4D) policy known as ‘An Integrated ICT-led Socio-economic Development Policy and Plan Development Framework for Ghana’ the government launched in 2004 to drive development in 12 thematic areas, including agriculture.
He, however, expressed misgivings that the budget devoted to e-agriculture (GH¢15 million or $3.75 million) was paltry.
“The little money devoted to e-agriculture tells us that we still under-rate the power of technology (ICT) to transform or turn around agriculture in Ghana.”
AgriTech 2017
The KIC has hosted the third and final round of business plan pitches in the 2017 AgriTech Challenge at the University of Ghana, Legon. The 2017 AgriTech Challenge begun with 16 teams at the first pitch, eleven at the second and finally six teams.
The nine-month long competitive journey saw the teams go through a plethora of intensive training to help them formulate viable and scalable businesses within the agribusiness sector.
The six teams that pitched for the ultimate prize are AgriInnova, Qualitrace, Unlimited, Rent-a-Farm, CompleteFarmer and AgroSeal.
Their business plans bordered on track and trace technology to authenticate product inputs and outputs, logistics and transportation services platform to connects fruits and vegetables’ aggregators and large scale farmers, and digital land mapping technology marketplace providing potential farmers with arable lands with much convenience.
Others are concepts are, an enterprise mobile and web based management system that enables poultry farm management; livestock management software that identifies and tracks health status of individual livestock and an agribusiness solutions services for an identified niche market of individuals through a practical, personalised and customised farming experience.