Rev. Prof. Hans Adu-Dapaah, FGA
Rev. Prof. Hans Adu-Dapaah, FGA, has called for the adoption of innovative approaches, including precision agriculture and the circular economy, as vital strategies to address Ghana’s agricultural challenges. Speaking during a two-day symposium, part of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) yearly Founders’ Week celebrations, held on November 13, 2024, Prof. Adu-Dapaah highlighted the potential of these approaches. He emphasized how they could foster sustainable development, ensure food security, and protect the environment.
In his keynote lecture, Prof. Adu-Dapaah, noted precision agriculture maximizes farming’s use of resources by using cutting-edge technology such as automated farming, drone monitoring, and smart irrigation systems. With the use of these instruments, inputs like water, fertilizer, and pesticides can be precisely managed, increasing agricultural yields while lowering production costs and having a less negative effect on the environment. He underlined that precision agriculture is a game-changing strategy for addressing pressing issues including population increase, climate change, and Ghana’s diminishing agricultural production.
He said circular economy emphasizes resource recycling and waste reduction in the agricultural sector. It establishes sustainable farming methods where resources are effectively recycled back into production processes, encourages the reuse of agricultural by-products, and lessens dependency on non-renewable inputs. Ghana’s agriculture industry can lessen its environmental impact, open new business possibilities, and guarantee long-term sustainability by embracing the concepts of circular economy.
Prof. Adu-Dapaah recognized strong obstacles to the implementation of precision agriculture and the circular economy, despite their enormous advantages. He listed the high upfront investment costs, poor infrastructure, and farmers’ lack of technical know-how as important issues that need to be addressed. He promoted a multi-sectoral cooperative strategy including stakeholders from the public and corporate sectors as well as civil society to tackle these challenges. Strong policy changes that prioritize funding for agricultural infrastructure, encourage the use of new technologies, and support Research and Development were also recommended by him.
Prof. Adu-Dapaah stressed the need of education and capacity development in training farmers to embrace and use these technologies successfully. To provide the next generation of farmers the tools they need to succeed in a technologically advanced agricultural environment, he advocated for the implementation of focused training programs as well as the inclusion of precision agriculture and sustainability concepts in national curriculum.
The event’s chairperson, Emerita Prof. Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi, stressed the need of re-establishing a link between agriculture and the next generation. She recollected how, as a youngster at Achimota Senior Secondary School, she and her classmates actively engaged in agricultural tasks like growing crops and collecting eggs. “It’s important to teach young kids that food comes from growing and that it’s fun to see crops grow”, she added. She was enthusiastic about how technology like artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, drones, and smart irrigation are transforming farming and making it more efficient and sustainable.
The symposium provides a forum for important stakeholders, professionals, and thought leaders to discuss important national problems. Academic authorities, government figures, business executives, members of civil society organizations, and students from Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School (PRESEC) were among the attendees.
The lecture by Prof. Adu-Dapaah was a call to action, stressing that Ghana must innovate in agriculture to ensure its future in the face of global economic and environmental concerns. The Bank of Ghana and Tropical Cable and Conductor Limited provided support to enable the festivities of this year’s Founders’ Week activities.