ACCRA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday opened the country's maiden agriculture technology fair, pledging the government's leadership in harnessing and leveraging technology and innovation to boost agriculture production and catalyze steady economic growth.
This initiative is part of the broader national vision to build a Ghanaian economy that is more productive, more diversified and more resilient, the president said.
The government seeks to build an economy based on value addition, transforming what Ghana grows into finished products, processing its primary products for export, creating dignified jobs for its people and consuming what it produces, Mahama said.
"Modern agriculture lies at the heart of this vision, not as a narrow social sector, but as an engine of industrial transformation," he said.
Mahama said modern agriculture needs to be driven by digital technology and entrepreneurial capacity to ensure higher yields to feed people, supply industries and generate precious foreign exchange for the economy.
He called for bankable agriculture projects that attract financial institutions and investors.
The president said that, starting this Friday, construction will begin on 60 farmers' service centers aimed at boosting agricultural mechanization, adding that these centers will provide access to tractors, harrowing, transporting, fertilizers and sheds for processing grains while also offering training and extension service.
Mahama urged universities and research institutions to support the vision by ensuring that their agricultural research projects "move from the laboratory to the field, from prototypes to production and from knowledge to enterprise."
"Today's agriculture sector needs engineers, software developers, data scientists, agronomists, logistics specialists, fabricators and innovators," he said. "Agriculture today is digital, technological and entrepreneurial." ■
