By: Mabel Adorkor Annang
As part of efforts to transform the agricultural sector digitally and improve on agricultural services in the rural areas, CARE International, a humanitarian organisation has collaborated with Bluetown and Denmark to help farmers access information digitally.
The five-year project is to ensure economic growth and to strengthen local agricultural communities to benefit from farming.
Speaking at the project launch, the Assistant Country Director of CARE International, Gifty Blekpe said the challenge of farmers is the lack of access to the information to improve productivity. Madam Blekpe said the first phase of the project will be on a pilot basis, in the Bono region on cocoa farms. “The Denmark government also pledged to support Ghana’s Agric sector with 1.5 million dollars, under the Connecting the Unconnected project.
The Ambassador of Denmark to Ghana, Madam Tove Dednbol said the main focus is to enrol more women into the project. ” according to a survey we conducted in the rural areas most men use smartphones than women, this is why we want to bring more women on board to have access to information digitally.”
Madam Dednbol intimated that for the past 15 years Denmark has supported Ghana’s Agric sector, but this time round through digitisation.
A Software Developer, Dela Mazioye is hopeful the project will serve as a platform to develop software for farmers.
The Deputy Director, head of field service at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Emmanuel Odame said digitisation in farming gives the farmer access to information, hence the need to strengthen collaboration among stakeholders.
The five-year project of connecting the unconnected, farmers in rural areas in Ghana is on the theme: Harnessing Digital solutions for Agricultural Transformation in Ghana. Connecting the unconnected project is an innovative partnership between Bluetown, Care international and the Danish ministry of foreign affairs and local strategic partners in Ghana. This is to promote digital transformation as an enabler for sustainable development and improve market linkages for smallholder farmers.
