| |
The Minister of food and Agriculture, Kwesi Ahwoi, has called on African governments to use modern and efficient technology to collate data for the agricultural sector.
“The current method of field measurements and yield studies which require costly field equipment and human resources seems to put a lot of strain on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s annual budget,” he stressed.
The Minister made the call at the opening ceremony of the 21st Session of the African Commission on Saharan Agricultural Statistics (AFCAS) in Accra last week.
The four-day meeting, hosted by Ghana for the third time, sought to promote the agricultural sector and its statistical information base.
It brought together 30 African countries including Mali, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Angola, Kenya, Togo, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania and Cote d’Ivoire.
Mr. Ahwoi said Ghana is currently being supported with $62,000 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to develop a sub-base information system on agricultural data.
“The system will support accelerated reduction in hunger and poverty through productive and sustainable agricultural management, the economic basis of the poor in sub-Saharan Africa,” he added.
The minister said to ensure effectiveness and productivity in the agriculture sector, Ghana had found in critical to build a comprehensive database of farmers, farmer based organisations, agricultural producers, traders and mechanism to target its policies, intervention and outreach programmes.
He said his ministry has engaged the FAO in a host of projects such as a programme for food security.
The Assistant Director-General of FAO Regional office for Africa, Ms Helena Semedo, in her address, said the meeting would accelerate the development of agricultural statistics in the region and adequately prepare African countries to face numerous challenges ahead.
Dr. Grace Bediako, Government Statistician, said agriculture is the mainstay of the Ghanaian economy which employs 53 percent of women and 61 percent of men.
“It is, however, one of the most difficult areas for obtaining accurate and timely data in Ghana,” she noted.
Source: Ghanaian Times, Tuesday November 3, 2009, Page 7.
|
|