Ghana Month: Science & Technology – Filtering The Raw State
Ghana’s first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, believed in the husbandry of the local scene towards nation-building.
In the scientific area, he established the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to harness indigenous acumen in science and technology, not only for speed but also for the creative development of Ghana.
The institutes that serve the branches of interest are focused on crops, food, and water research, building and roads, animals, industrial technology, plant genetic resources, soil science, forestry, agriculture in the savannah regions of Ghana, science and technology policy, and a college of science and technology.
Placing emphasis on research, the Council mobilises personnel with a PhD as the minimum qualification. It brings to bear on activities, and high standards of scientific knowledge to unlock the elements that are crucial to the maximum utilization of agriculture, and other natural resources.
Among some of the Council’s achievements are, the digitization of solutions-based products for the uptake of farmers and stakeholders, climate-smart technologies for crop resilience to climate change, integrated water, animal, soil, crop, and policy research that make a difference between learned and ordinary approaches to product development, and a backup system or reservoir for plantations in the field.
Research by the Council has placed Ghana on the map as a major reference point for the commercial development of cash crops such as coconut and oil palm and as the world’s leading exporter of yam.
In developing climate-smart technologies and disease resilient crops, farmers have extra agricultural windows open to them and are able to operate all year round, or a greater part of a year. These interventions have helped increase the scope of cultivable lands, the potency of seeds, and incomes of farmers.
CSIR is a boon to agri-business in helping farmers to package products for export, and ensuring that products made available to the international market have passed the quality control tests.
The uncanny sixth sense approach by researchers is the factor for the development of alternative ways and products to reduce over-reliance on existing ones which at the risk of contingencies could fail.
In celebrating Ghana month, we cannot forget the contributions by Ghanaian scientists who have brought finesse to agricultural production, development, and commercialization, both for national food security needs and as industrial raw material for export. It is research that brings value-addition for high export revenues.