MOFA, E-commerce to set up info. centre

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in collaboration with E-Commerce, will establish 10 information centres in all the regions in the country, within the next five years.

It has already set up two centres in the Techiman and Pokuase in the Ga district and will set up four more in the southern sector by December this year.

These centres will facilitate and make information accessible and train all farmers and traders in the country in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

The Project Co-ordinator, Mr Edward Addo-Dankwa, said this in a presentation at a workshop in Accra organised by Atlantis Computer Training in collaboration with Shawbell Consults and the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD).

The two- day workshop was undertaken by project co-ordinators of four organisations in project management to enable them to perform better in the administration and management of their projects.

These four institutions, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture/ E-Commerce, Environmental Protection Agency, Rescue Missions and Ghana Agriculture Information Network System are involved in projects that will promote Information Communication Technology in their institutions. He said this project is to expand the market and promote the market base of most farmers and traders, especially those exporting non-traditional products through the use of ICT.

“It is to increase the livelihood of small and non traditional exports products such as cocoa, gold, cashew and handicrafts”, he said.

He noted that with the support of IICD, Techiman and Pokuase in the Ga District have started with the training of some farmers and traders in ICT. He expressed regret that funding and telecommunication problems in these areas have hindered the smooth process of the project .

Mr Addo-Dankwa expressed the hope that these problems would be solved soon, so as to enable the ministry to implement its project effectively.

A representative of Rescue Mission and the executive director of its project, Mr Ebenezer Malcolm, said their project, “Global Teenager Project”, is to enhance and bridge the digital divide amongst the young ones in secondary schools all over the world.

He said in Ghana, the project will give ICT training to 50 teachers and 3000 students in 17 junior and senior secondary schools in the Greater Accra, Central and Ashanti regions within a five-year period.

The project, he noted, is being conducted in nine different countries in Africa and so far Ghana has been rated the third best country in the world under the pilot project.

The monitory and evaluation specialist of IICD, Ms Lisette Gaot, said IICD, in partnership with other organisations such as DFID, is involved in promoting projects, especially those of ICT in developing countries.

She said IICD has started assisting and collaborating with organisations in the agricultural and educational sectors that have initiated projects which involves the use of ICT.

Ms Gaot expressed her dissatisfaction that the unreliable telecommunication system and low infrastructure in the country have hindered the work of projects they are involved in.