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Ghana leveraging on digital technology to unlock agriculture potentials – Veep

By
Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA

Accra, Sept. 3, GNA
– Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says Government is leveraging on digital
technology to unlock agriculture potentials in the country and stimulate
economic growth.

To that end, he said
government over the years, had been instituting appropriate policies and laws
to ensure smallholder farmers, agripreneurs, small-and-medium scale
enterprises, farm organisations and other critical stakeholders in the
agriculture value chain use digital technology to engender efficiency in their
operations.

He said Ghana had
been using digital technology in farmer registration, inputs distribution,
market information, farm and soil mapping, irrigation system management,
surveillance at sea, weather forecast and supply of essential medicines to
hard-to-reach areas.

He acknowledged some
African countries such as Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal and Mauritania that
were benefiting from digital tools in improving e-commerce and engendering
growth in small businesses.

He, therefore,
encouraged other African countries to be proactive and have the political will
to use digital technology, in order to provide decent job opportunities for the
youth and promote social inclusion, as well as ensure economic growth and
alleviate poverty on the Continent.

According to a
recent World Bank ICT Index Report, Ghana is among the top five African nations
that is leveraging on digital technology to enhance public service delivery.

Vice President
Bawumia gave the advice in a keynote address delivered on his behalf by
Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the Minister of Environment, Science,
Technology and Innovation, at the opening of the 2019 African Green Revolution
Forum (AGRF) in Accra on Tuesday.

He was of the
conviction that should the African Continent leverage on digital technology, it
would help leapfrog infrastructure challenges and make massive progress in its
development drive.

The AGRF is the
ninth edition, which is the brainchild of former United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, who was the founding chairperson of the Alliance for Green
Revolution in Africa: hence the forum was moved to Accra this year, to coincide
with the one-year anniversary of his passing.

The event is the
world’s premier forum for African agriculture, pulling together stakeholders in
the agricultural landscape to discuss and commit policies, programmes and
investments to achieve an inclusive and sustainable agricultural transformation
across the African Continent.

The forum attracted
about 2,300 delegates from 79 countries in Africa and across the globe,
including Heads of State, Ministers of Agriculture, Central Bank Governors,
captains of industry, development partners, representatives of farmer
organizations, youth entrepreneurs and other critical stakeholders.

It is being held
under the theme: “Grow Digital: Leveraging Digital Transformation to Drive
Sustainable Food Systems in Africa”.

It will also
evaluate how far the African Continent has progressed in the past decade and
look at ways to jumpstart what needs to be done differently in the next five to
10 years, to put Africa’s agriculture on a new footing, with digitisation as a
key driver for agricultural transformation.

Vice President Bawumia
also mentioned some interventions government had rolled out to promote
efficiency in public service delivery, including Paperless Ports System,
National Digital and Property Addressing System, Mobile Money Interoperability
System, Smart driver’s licence, e-business registration, Biometric
Identification System, usage of drones for supply of essential medicines to
some deprived communities.

He underlined the
need for building partnerships and soliciting the right investments to drive
the digital technology agenda in Africa so that the Continent derived the
needed benefits.

“Ghana now has a
strong digital environment with regards to laws and policies, As far back as
2003, the country devised a road map for the development of its information
society through the development of policy on Ghana Information Communication
Technology Accelerated Development.

“His Excellence Nana
Akufo-Addo has concerned himself with building a new and efficient Ghana firmly
anchored on digital technology for accelerated development,” he stressed.

Dr Agnes Kalibata,
President of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa, the Convener of the
AGRF, in her welcome address, outlined three key objectives for this year’s
forum.

They include
leveraging on digital technology to leapfrog Africa’s agricultural development,
dealing with climate change challenges on agriculture and striking partnerships
between entrepreneurs through new business deals to achieve the African green
revolution agenda.

Dr Kalibata underlined
the need for all stakeholders to make the next decade Africa’s green revolution
agenda a reality through sustainable agricultural practices and promote food
security to alleviate poverty and curb illegal migration.

GNA

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