Accra, Dec. 10, GNA - The German Government on Friday

donated 182 computers and accessories worth 150,000 Euros to the

Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to help in the retrieval of

data and statistical information on agriculture in the country. Mr Eberhard Schanze, German Ambassador to Ghana, presenting

the items, said agriculture was important to every developing country

and the facility provided would help the expansion of data and

information in the agricultural sector. He said to achieve success in the fight against poverty, there must

be strong facilities to help farmers in their data collection, obtaining

resources and achieve better communication among partners. Mr Shanze noted that there was the need to have solid information

systems which would help in communication, compiling of data in

other districts through e-mails to reduce the cost of sending

messages. Mr Yaw Effah-Baafi, Deputy Minister of MOFA in-charge of

Crops, receiving the items, said the Ministry depended on data and

statistics to improve on its performance and the accessories would

facilitate data collection and storage. He said the most important information to be applied in farming

included the registration of farm-based-organizations and facilities

provided it would be ideal to register individual farmers in their

operations, location and communities where they were engaged. Mr Effah-Baafi explained that there were 170 Metropolis,

Municipalities and Districts and each would have a computer and

accessories, with the remaining two kept at the Ministry. He urged the workers and staff to use the computers to generate

statistics and appealed to them to handle the facilities with care to

serve the purpose for which they had been provided. Mr Asante Krobea, Brong Ahafo Regional Director of Agriculture,

said challenges at the regional and district levels were information

capturing, documentation, analysis and retrieval of secondary data on

their activities, as most of their data management was done manually. He noted that this affected the quality of reports from the Regions

and Districts, thereby distorting information outlay in the Ministry. Mr Krobea said provision of the computers and accessories

would enhance data capturing, documentation, analysis and

presentation. He gave the assurance that they would use and maintain the

facilities to the best of their ability to improve agricultural planning and

service delivery to the advantage of farmers and the nation. 10 Dec. 10