The Director of the Crop Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is courting media support to help scale-up the adaptation and application of new technologies by farmers and other end-users. Dr. Hans Adu-Dapaah says the media has a crucial role to play if agricultural research projects are to make the necessary impact in improving food security and poverty alleviation. He was addressing a workshop in Kumasi for journalists and scientists on the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), a World Bank funded project, being implemented by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the CRI. The first phase of the 10-year project is expected to end in 2012 at a cost of $15million, involving actors along the supply chain – research scientists, extension workers, processors/industrialists, consumers and donors. In Ghana, the programme is focused on root and tuber crops such as cassava, sweet potato, cocoyam and yam. Project implementers are creating a platform to enable journalists and research scientists to exchange ideas on how best to disseminate information on agricultural technologies developed under the WAAPP for the benefit of farmers, industrialists and consumers. According to Dr. Adu-Dapaah, increased agricultural productivity can only be achieved when research results can reach the targeted group. The media, he noted, is a vital linkage in technology transfer. “When this happens agricultural productivity will increase and there will be more food and raw materials for the industries, our farmers will make more money, poverty will be reduced and standard of living will improve for us all. The media therefore has a vital role to play in technology transfer”, he stated. The result expected at the end of the programme is 25 percent increase in the production of the main agriculture sectors of participating countries. Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh/Luv FM/Ghana