The nascent adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies in all the major agricultural sub-sectors including crops, livestock, fisheries, and aquaculture is a major contributor to the current low levels of productivity.

There are various public and private sector programs being implemented in Ghana which are seeking to increase the availability and use of agricultural technologies to maximize and sustain productivity in Ghana.

The E-Agriculture component of the Planting for Food and Jobs Program (PFJ) seeks to engage information and communication technologies (ICT) for efficient targeting of beneficiaries, and the effective management and governance of the program.

Through public-private partnerships, the program will establish e-profiles of the beneficiaries and maximize the use of ICT in establishing a supply chain management system that will efficiently integrate private service provisions on the distribution of the subsidized inputs, storage, balance payments by beneficiaries, marketing of outputs, and emergency responses.

Through its e-Agriculture program, WAAPP- West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program – Ghana is taking advantage of widespread cellphone use by leveraging ICT tools to help farmers.

By calling a toll-free number or accessing an online platform, farmers can get real-time advice in 6 dialects on best farming practices.

To date, the e-Agriculture program has over 120,000 subscribers and has logged over 1.8 million calls on a variety of issues, from land preparation to pest management.

Various apps have been developed to provide valuable data to industry, as well as increase access to information. CowTribe, for example, uses mobile technology to connect livestock farmers in Northern Ghana with veterinary services. Hover uses drones to help farmers map out their land. Farmerline delivers weather updates, market prices and other details to farmers through their mobile phones, helping to improve their practice to some degree.

The Fintech sector has been one of the most innovative, fast growing and transformational in Ghana. In many senses, new mobile banking and other such programmes are leapfrogging the West. From the simple payment gateway that allows customers to buy mobile phone airtime from their bank account through to apps that help customers send and receive remittances to their mobile wallets, fintech companies are having a massive impact on Ghana’s payment sector.