The 2017 edition the annual New Year School and conference which will be opened at the University of Ghana in January next year is expected to focus on how to modernise agriculture through the application of Information Communication Technology (ICT) that seeks to increase yield in order to make it vibrant to create more jobs.

The conference which has climate change as one of its main topics will discuss effective ways of  mitigating climate change and devastating effect on the agricultural sector.

It will also create a common platform for farmers to share relevant market and weather information.

To be held  under the theme “Promoting National Development through Agricultural Modernization: The Role of ICT,” and organized by the University of Ghana Continuing and Distance  Education, the 68th edition is seen as critical since the prime focus of the event tackles issues in the sector that contributes 20% of Ghana’s GDP to the national economy.

The New Year School and Conference have become an important event on the University of Ghana's calendar, where every year people of all backgrounds congregate to deliberate on important topics of national and international concerns.

Speaking during the formal  launch of the program in Accra the Dean of SCDE Professor Michael Tagoe said “in order to raise awareness about this policy, the Annual New Year School's themes have in the last three years focused on ICT and Education (2014), ICT and Governance (2015) and ICT and Health (2016).  

As we launch the 68th Annual New Year School and Conference, we have identified agriculture as one of the critical sectors that can spur Ghana's accelerated development because of its links with industry, as the focus of this year's theme.

 He said the agricultural sector is one of the important sectors in which ICTs could be deployed and utilised to support activities including production, processing, marketing and distribution of agricultural products and services.

Deputy Minister of Agric, Dr Alhassan Yakubu, commended the organisers for choosing a theme that is relevant in view of his  Ministry's policy  to integrate ICT into the operations of the Agricultural Sector.

He said the Annual New Year School program has always identified topical issues of national and international relevance for participants to discuss and therefore the selection of such a topic on agriculture is commendable.

He noted that agriculture is a key sector of the economy and therefore important to mainstreaming ICT for its accelerated transformation and growth since  according to him agriculture accounts for 20.3 percent of the national GDP.

The Deputy Minister was of the view that agriculture provides livelihood to Ghanaians in both urban and  rural  areas and seen as having a greater impact on poverty reduction than other sectors of the economy.

 The revised Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy and the Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (METASIP), and the Livestock Policy are being implemented to accelerate the modernization of agriculture.

He announced that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in partnership with the World Bank  has established an internet-based platform called "e-agriculture" which is meant for efficient dissemination of agricultural information which is to complement the existing traditional extension services available to farmers.

 The national e-agriculture platform is an essential first step for the use of ICT for efficient and effective agriculture technology transfer.