Farmer Information Support Project Inaugurated
News
Sep 30 2004, Ghana [GH], Media, Education, Agriculture
The Farmer Information Support project is a three months pilot programme on using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as radio, mobile telephony and Internet to conduct an interactive, farmer distance-learning program in Integrated Crop and Pest Management (ICPM) as well as market information. The launch took place on August 25th amongst over one hundred farmers and extension officers, as well as officials from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, various Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and residents of the Navrongo Community.
The project is aimed at filling the huge information gap that farmers in the Upper East region have to contend with. The project consists of a radio programme, which will be aired on URA Radio (the only regional FM station in the region) and includes weekly radio broadcasts in English, Kasem, Grune (Frafra) and Buli, with each dialect having a day each. Even though the immediate beneficiaries of the project are the 4000 farmers in the Tono and Vea Irrigation Area. It is expected to benefit many other farmers in the region especially vegetable crop farmers.
The project is a partnership of various stakeholders including: Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing (GINKS ), Communication for Research and Development (COMFORD) and Irrigation company of the Upper Regions (ICOUR). GINKS is an information networking partner of IICD.
The project is a partnership of various stakeholders including: Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing (GINKS ), Communication for Research and Development (COMFORD) and Irrigation company of the Upper Regions (ICOUR). GINKS is an information networking partner of IICD.