Accelerating Growth in Agriculture using Technology in Ghana
The agriculture sector in Ghana grew by a 2.8% margin in 2015. During the first quarter of 2016, it grew by a 0.4% margin. Alarming statistics isn’t it? What attributed to the slow growth in agriculture? Several factors including
- Minimal government interventions such as provisions of extension advisory services to smallholder farmers, access to credit facilities and access to agricultural inputs
- Subsistence farming which sees more than 70% of the nation’s farmer workforce engaged in small scale farming.
- Lack of technology inclusion (e-agriculture) and reliance on old techniques of farming.
- The youth shunning agriculture in search for white collar jobs
- Standardized commodity pricing across the country which has given way to exploitative buying
- Lack of logistics and transportation related services to send commodities to markets for sale. Many of these commodities are left to go waste
- Importation of commodities as opposed to buying home-grown agricultural produce
Government institutions such as The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) is overwhelmed in terms of matching the number of Agricultural Extension Agents (AEA) to farmers. Currently in the Northern Region of Ghana, the AEA to farmer ratio is 1:1077. One Extension agent serving a thousand and seventy seven farmers.
How can technology bridge this gap in agriculture and solve these problems facing agriculture in Ghana? Simple. By using technology and innovations.
With the emergence of mobile phones in Ghana and the mobile penetration rate currently at 128% and 6 telecommunication companies who currently cover over 80% of the country in terms of providing access to calls and internet functionalities, government and private organizations will reach a critical mass of smallholder farmers using voice and SMS solutions.
Technology will provide access to a wider market for smallholder farmers to trade fairly and make enough money that will improve their financial livelihood. If a farmer makes enough money, he/she will re-invest a portion of the money made back into the farm for expansion.
Technology will also enhance sustainable food security. Smallholder farmers will no longer have to wait, for many days, just to access a truck that will convey their commodities to the markets to be sold. Using technology, on-demand trucks will be available and all a farmer needs is to request for a truck delivery service just at the click of a button
Technological platforms such as the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX), Esoko, Farmerline and AgroCenta provides real-time market information prices across major markets in the country to smallholder farmers via SMS. This information empowers the smallholder farmer to negotiate and get best deal for their commodities.
Some notable organizations such as the Farmers Apprentice Program are on a mindset change program that seeks to change the wrong notion that agriculture is a preserve for the old people in Ghana and encourage more youth into agriculture by organizing reality shows and giving away seed funding to start a commercial farm
To reduce the importation of rice related products and consume what we grow locally, a few organizations are using social media technology to advertise home-grown rice that is affordable and neatly packaged. This is to debunk the notion that locally grown rice are unwholesome and not well packaged to international standards
When the government paves the way for more public-private partnerships to roll out innovative solutions to enhance agriculture in Ghana, growth will be accelerated and the smallholder farmer stands to be the ultimate beneficiary. Those who feed the nation must be empowered using technology.
