What has a farmer to do with a computer?

Author : Edward Addo-Dankwa
Date added : 2000-08-30

Brief Project Background

Ejura is a farming township in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The inhabitants are mostly farmers. They produce a lot of maize, yam and vegetables. In 1991, some of the farmers cropped garden eggs. Some traders from the south went there and bought all their produce. The traders advised the farmers to cultivate more because they were exporting it. The following year, most of the farmers in the area cultivated the garden eggs. They had a very good harvest but could not sell because the traders could not buy all. Even the few they bought, the price they offered for it was far below what the farmers expected. The farmers could not pay for even the cost of labour for the harvesting.

Marketing has been the main problem for small and medium scale producers and traders in Ghana. Producers are unable to sell their produce. They therefore are unable to get fair prices for their products. They either have to sell it at prices far below their production cost or risk having all their products going waste.

With the Traditional Export Products of Ghana (eg. Cocoa) doing badly on the International market, there was the need for the country to diversify into the production of non-traditional export products like pineapples, yams, etc.

Results

Through the Ministry of Food & Agriculture (MOFA), the Government of Ghana has been promoting the production of non-traditional export products. In support of this effort, MOFA has been very active in wooing foreign investors to invest in the production of non-traditional export products. MOFA has also been encouraging local farmers to go into its production. As a result of this, Ghana has recently experienced a tremendous growth in the production of non-traditional export products, particularly those agriculture-related. The impact of the increased production however has not achieved the greatest possible impact on the Ghanaian economy.

Producers and exporters of non-traditional goods depend heavily on the promotion of their products in international markets, and therefore, on accurate information about product prices and demand levels. The lack of efficient and effective channels to transfer such information between the Ghanaian non-traditional exporter/producer and the foreign importer in the global market has dampened the potential economic impact of MOFA’s initiatives. Accurate price and demand information is currently inaccessible. Additionally, the opportunities to promote Ghanaian trade are limited and the process is slow and costly because it relies on telephone and fax lines.

The E-Commerce Project aims at overcoming the barriers by enabling Ghanaian non-traditional producers and exporters to effectively promote their products in the global market. The Project expects to increase the competitiveness and market position of Ghanaian farmers and exporters by enabling them to approach and to respond more effectively to the demands of the market via faster and cheaper contacts.

The E-Commerce for Non-Traditional Exports Project was identified at an ICT Roundtable organised by the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) and supported by the Ministry of Communications in May 1998. The Project seeks to increase the livelihood opportunities of local Ghanaian farmers by improving their opportunities to compete effectively in the non-traditional products export market. The targeted beneficiaries of the Project are small and medium-sized non-traditional producers, exporters. By introducing more efficient and cost effective communication between Ghanaian producers/exporters and foreign importers, the Project seeks to improve their business position by increasing efficiency and eliminating waste associated with fraud and expensive travels.

A pilot for this project started in May 2000. This phase focuses on the development of a basic information system for and with producer groups of major non-traditional export products in tow agriculture districts of Ghana. The pilot project will now focus on
a) Training of project staff in website development and database management,
b) Training of selected producers and traders in the two districts in ICT applications
c) Development of website for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and publication of market information on this website;
d) Distribution of the information to the districts via Internet and,
e) Development of web pages by and for producers and traders showing their products and market offerings.

Two districts the Ga District in the Greater Accra Region and Techiman district in the Brong-Ahafo Region were selected for the pilot phase.
The two districts are all major farming communities in Ghana. Traditional authorities and governmental authorities in both district are very much involved in this project because they agree it is going to solve one of the major problems of producers: marketing.

Computers with accessories and Internet access have been installed in each of the districts. Eight producers and traders have been trained in ICT in the Techiman District, and five in the Ga district. They were given training in basic computer skills, word processing, spreadsheet management, database management, introduction to the Internet, searching the internet, using e-mails, and introduction to web site development. After the training, the participants were asked to develop simple web sites for their farms. These will be modified and hosted on the Internet in September 2000. The subscribing producers and traders will be given email addresses so that they can be contacted directly via email.

The project staff have also been given extensive training in web development and database management. They are going to be responsible for the updating of the information on the Internet.

We were very particular about sustainability so we have made the various communities responsible for the whole project. They are responsible for the day to day activities of the project. They also have full access to the computers. They now see the whole project as “their Project”.

Conclusion
Just before we started, some people were very pessimistic about the success of the project. They were wondering if the producers, who are only interested in their farms, would be interested in this system. Some were asking: “ WHAT HAS THE FARMER GOT TO DO WITH A COMPUTER?” The interest show by the producers and traders especially in the training has surprised most of the critics. Now the producers and traders spend at least two hours every week on the computers practicing what they were taught at the training. They are all very optimistic and are awaiting their first contacts when their sites are hosted on the Internet.

Lessons

Edward Addo-Dankwa
eddie@mofa.gov.gh

Project Information

Total budget in US$ : -

Contact Information

Edward Addo-Dankwa

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