Remote monitoring system to aid agriculture in Ghana
Ghana's agriculture is expected to improve
significantly with the introduction of a remote monitoring system for the nation's fields.
The four-year African Monitoring of Environment for a Sustainable Development (AMESD) is being implemented by the Africa Union Commission (AUC) with funding from the European Union Development Fund.
So far, all 16 countries in West Africa and a host of other countries on the continent are working towards bringing the benefits of AMESD to bare on their agriculture.
The African continent has been facing climatic conditions in the form of extreme floods and droughts, which inadvertently affect agricultural production for many years now.
In Ghana, the AMESD operates from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).
A satellite dish, which collates information on the environment, specifically, on vegetation cover and water resources and transmits it to a computer is located at MoFA.
To maximise Ghana's gains in AMESD, a four-day training workshop has been organised by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for stakeholders.
Participants included data analysts, meteorologists andthe climate change experts.
At the end of the four days, they are expected to be able to use the AMESD products to assess the impact of rainy season on crop and rangeland and identify drought affected areas in order to support decisions towards food security.
Participants are also expected to assess types and conditions of vegetation, and locate vegetation that is heavily impacted by natural or man-made stresses such as pests, fire, disease and pollution.
"Such sets of data, taken over time intervals and compared, can also help understand how the vegetation has changed over time", a climate change expert at the EPA, Dr Emmanuel Techcie Mensah stated.
According to him, the AMESD is a result of an agreement between the EU, AUC to reinforce the operational use of earth observation technologies and guarantee the continuity of their environmental and climatic applications in Africa.
A deputy director at the Statistics, Research and Information Directorate of MoFA, Mr John Nortey, called on African leaders to commit to the project, which seeks to enhance food security.
Story by Naa Lamiley Bentil
