Some of the finest brains in the field of Agriculture last week met in the Ashanti regional capital to find solutions to some of the most challenging problems farmers face in Ghana.
The meeting held at Crystal Rose Ambassador Hotel sought to brainstorm and conclude on how to leverage ICT to improve farming in Ghana.
The programme held under the auspices of Kuapa Kokoo Co-operative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union (KKFU) and the Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) was attended by Agricultural Think-Tanks, Researchers, Academicians, Farmers and other Agro-business entities.
Various presentations were made on Climate Change, mitigation and Adaptation, Post-Harvest Practices, Policy on Cocoa Extension 
Services, Appropriate input application, Agronomy, Occupational Health and safety among several others.
Director of Health Services at KKFU; Dr. Fred Bedzrah explains to rawgist.com that the conference seeks to develop a standard operating procedure for the Union’s newly constructed Tele-Agric Centre in order to adduce maximum benefits for farmers.
“This will be used to provide standard information to farmers and extension workers at the Tele-Agric Centre”, he said.
The Tele-Agric Centre which is yet to be commissioned was funded by MPA as part of an MOU between the two entities. MPA has 
promised to help cocoa farmers in their quest to reap maximum benefits from their farms whiles at the same time seeking their welfare through the championing of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Tele-Agric Consultation Centre Project
Project Goals and Objectives
The main objective is to introduce technology-driven climate-smart agricultural concept through the establishment of Tele-Agric Consultation to bridge the service and communication gap between cocoa farmers and agricultural inputs as well as technical extension services by providing timely information and advisory support to address target specific needs of farmers and improve cocoa productivity.
The specific objectives of the project are to:
- Improve upon the knowledge base of KKFU members on new agricultural technologies and techniques.
- Strengthen the link. between cocoa farmers and the relevant technical agricultural services including input and output markets.
- Provide timely information to farmers on weather, farm inputs and market.
- Create and disseminate a repository of best cocoa farming and agribusiness practices.
- Develop protocols for the training of farmers on Tele-Agric.
In the long-term, the TACP will foster technology development, research and innovation to add value to cocoa production. It will subsequently lead to a reduction in the cost of providing extension support services to farmers by leveraging on innovative technologies to contribute to ending hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture.
