Kumasi: AKILIMO, a digital service designed to provide tailored agronomic advice to cassava growers, has officially launched its Ghana Association to bolster its presence in the region. This move aims to enhance agricultural productivity, facilitate knowledge dissemination, and advocate for policies that drive sustainable development and growth in Ghana's agricultural sector.
According to Ghana News Agency, the Association envisions creating a digitally empowered and resilient agricultural sector. By widely adopting AKILIMO tools, the goal is to enable farmers and value chain actors to achieve optimal productivity and improve their livelihoods. During the launch event in Kumasi, Dr. Thompson Ogunsanmi, a Scaling Specialist and AKILIMO Coordinator for Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania, highlighted the ongoing benefits to Ghanaian cassava farmers. They have been introduced to best practices in planting, weed control, fertilizer recommendations, intercropping, and the scheduling of planting and harvesting.
Since its introduction in Ghana in 2023, AKILIMO has collaborated with stakeholders to translate its materials into local languages 'Ewe' and 'Twi'. Dr. Ogunsanmi noted that the Association is expected to develop and maintain a framework for all AKILIMO interfaces and training materials, ensuring continuous access for farmers and extension agents while keeping the content relevant and updated.
The Association also aims to expand the AKILIMO user base and foster partnerships among value chain players to address challenges and bottlenecks. It will be responsible for designing and implementing cost-effective strategies for AKILIMO training and support for farmers and farmer organizations. Additionally, the Association plans to integrate the AKILIMO application programming interface with other partners' platforms and work with research partners to extend AKILIMO's reach to other crops.
The Association will monitor the uptake of AKILIMO tools and recommendations and implement feedback mechanisms for continuous improvement. The launch event brought together stakeholders, including processing companies, researchers, officers from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, agricultural extension agents, and agro-based enterprises. Interim executives named at the event included Mr. Daniel Dzorkpe Gamenyah, Mr. Richard Darko, Nuhu Mborija, along with two other members serving as Chairman, Secretary, and Organizer, respectively.