Take to courses on data journalism

Kumasi, June 01, GNA - Ghanaian journalists have been encouraged to make radical shift towards effective use of data to influence policy-decision making.

Mr. Valentijn Venus, Executive Director of Ujuici Laboratories, a Netherlands-based Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) firm, said they needed to build the capacity, skills and expertise in data journalism.

He was addressing a day's workshop held in Kumasi on the use of CHEETAH, an ICT platform developed by Ujuici, to improve the agricultural value chain for increased productivity.

The programme was organized by Borderless Alliance, an NGO.

The platform has been so designed to facilitate interaction and information-sharing among major stakeholders - farmers, drivers, traders, consumers and the media.

The goal is to break down barriers impeding agricultural growth, particularly post-harvest losses, which accounts for about 33 per cent of food production loss in Africa.

Mr. Venus identified poor road infrastructure, lack of processing and packaging technologies, and storage systems as major challenges that needed to be tackled in the sub-region.

The situation, he noted was further aggravated by illegal toll stops and police controls, which tended to put pressure on profit margins.

He indicated that the CHEETAH platform was currently being used on pilot basis to monitor activities on the Accra-Ouagadougou trade corridor.

He said it had so far engaged in excess of 200 truck drivers selected from the various transport associations across the sub-region, alongside graduate students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to assess whether the platform could inform effective post-harvest management decisions and policies.

GNA

By Stephen Asante/Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA