The Use of Geographical Information System GIS in

The Use of Geographical Information System (GIS) in Enhancing Agriculture productivity: Experiences from Ghana ADVANCE Program Leslie Pobee GIS Specialist ADVANCE Program

Background q. The subsistence nature of agriculture in Rural Ghana v Gathering timely, accurate and relevant data on agricultural productivity remains a challenge v. Information on the spatial distribution of farms and other agribusiness service providers in the three Northern Regions of Ghana remains inadequate. q. Geographical Information System (GIS) application to agriculture production is helping bridge this information gap v. Efficiently and profitably balancing the quantum of farm inputs and outputs

Background-Project Area

Background- Cont. . . q. The Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) Program is a USAID funded program implemented by a consortium of local and international partners led by ACDI/VOCA q. Our goal v. To facilitate a transformation of Ghana’s agricultural sector in selected agricultural staples (maize, rice and soybean) to achieve a greater degree of food security among the rural population in Northern Ghana while increasing competitiveness in the domestic markets q. Value Chain Approach

Methods q. Between July and September, 2011 ADVANCE mapped 5, 477 q. Between September and November, 2012, sampled and mapped 1, 044, drawn from 15, 224 maize, soybean and rice farmers on the program q. Global Positioning System(GPS) coordinates were taken for agribusiness service providers q. Arc. View 10 was used to convert all GPS coordinates to GIS coverage.

Results-2011 mapping exercise

Results-2012 mapping exercise

Results-Crop Demonstration

Results-Financial Institutions

Results-Crop Insurance

The Future of ADVANCE GIS Data q. What to do with the data when the project ends? v. Developed an Online platform to make data available to the public v. Brought other stakeholders (public/private organizations) to a series of roundtable meeting v. Share the idea v. Rope them in, to share data for the platform

The Future of ADVANCE GIS Data Cont. … q. Sought for a strategic partner to develop, handle and manage the web platform (CERSGIS) http: //www. gis 4 ghaagri c. net

Conclusion q. The adoption of Geospatial technologies on the ADVANCE project has: v. Enhanced the traceability of our Value Chain Actors v. This traceability has made farmers more visible and attractive to potential buyers thereby enhancing their linkages to downstream markets. v. Created linkages with markets, Input dealers (seed growers, agro-chemical dealers), mechanized service provides, Financial Institutions, good agronomic practices (GAPs), improved technologies.

Thank You