Wife of the Vice President, Samira Bawumia, is urging more collaboration between the Energy Commission and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to leverage the usage of renewable energy sources to in agriculture.

According to her, the time has come for the country to move away from the traditional way of producing food.

She was speaking at the Grand Finale of the Renewable Energy Challenge by the Energy Commission won by Sogakope Senior High.

The 4th edition of the Energy Commission Senior High Schools Renewable Energy Challenge, is one of the flagship programmes of the Commission to provide education and awareness on renewable energy resources and technologies to students.

Speaking as the Guest of Honour at the programme themed, “mechanized small scale Agriculture, using renewable energy technologies,” Mrs. Bawumia stressed the need for the use of renewables in farming practices.

“We must seize the opportunity to use renewable energy technologies to transform the way we cultivate, harvest, and process our agriculture products making it more sustainable, efficient and eco-friendly”, she said.

A Deputy Minister for Energy, Andrew Agyapa Mercer, praised the Energy Commission for its efforts in ensuring the promotion of renewable energy in the country.

The Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, Oscar Amanoo-Neizer, hinted of the ongoing process to commercialise the innovations of various winners of the challenge.

“Ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Challenge necessitates the continued development and commercialisation of the students' projects. With this in mind, the Commission has established a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR). This partnership offers an opportunity for students, teachers, and schools to reap financial benefits from their projects”.

“This collaboration between the Commission and CSIR underscores our commitment to nurturing innovation and propelling these remarkable projects towards real-world implementation”, he added.

Sogakope Senior High School emerged winners, followed by Yaa Asantewaa Girls High School, Kwabre Senior High School, Dormaa Senior High School and Serwaa Kesse Girls high School.