Hi Nyaneba, Ghana's e-agricultural strategy you did make reference to, is that the same  as the policy statement captured in the ICT4D Policy which also includes e-health, e-learning, et al? If otherwise, do send me a web link to access the specific e-ag strategy doc. I am interested in having this document available for users of AgriHub Ghana Knowledge Space.

The private agribusiness sector in Ghana has been spearheading numerous efforts in expanding access to agricultural information through impact research, and relevant technical service provision. An  e-ag strategy will surely help streamline efforts and look at scalability with appropriate resource support.

E-agriculture Strategy, as a guide to help align regional and country-level ICT in Agriculture is very laudable. This strategy is essential to increase technology adoption and also focus appropriate resource support to the agricultural sector. 

In Ghana, I am aware of component e-agricultural strategies developed by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture through donor-support. A case in point is the e-extension platform developed with support from GIZ funded Market Oriented Agricultural Programme (MOAP) and another with financing from the World-Bank West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP). In all these, the level of participation of relevant actors has been limited to the respective project design teams, consultants, Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the funding agency. There has been very limited private sector ag service provider and farmer involvement leading to very limited scaling of the initiative.

It is very important to connect with locally active agricultural knowledge hubs, users of the technologies, and service providers very active in this space to support and expand e-ag impact.

In the development of e-agriculture guide, I believe key focus should be on:

i. Clear outlines of private and public sector institutional linkages 

ii. Technical constraints faced by key actors: farmers, livestock rearers, input dealers, processors, traders, aggregators, value chain financiers, etc

iii. Delineation of roles and activities expected

iii. Broad base consultation with e-agriculture actors ( such as this online discourse)

iv. Proposed technical approaches at country-level

v. Country-level implementation followup, financing and sustainability uptake

PS/ Drafting and development should not be left in the hands of local and international NGOs but should actively involve all relevant actors ( NGOs, private actors, public institutions, etc) to strengthen the case for uptake.

The idea of developing e-agriculture strategies is a very laudable one. This will bring about consistency and better coordination of actors in the e-ag sector for increased impact. Regional level e-agriculture strategy could be drafted but fine-tuned at the country level taking into considerations resource availability, commitment and availability of actors expecially private sector service providers and farmers. Ghana could benefit from such initiative.