By Ewoenam Kpodo, GNA
Ho, Nov. 12, GNA – Professor Ben Q. Honyenuga, the Vice-Chancellor of Ho Technical University (HTU) has challenged Ghana’s entire education system, wondering why agriculture which employs the generality of the population is an option in schools.
Speaking at the opening of the second Food, Agriculture, Technology and Sustainability (FATAS) Conference at HTU he wondered, “In Ghana, English Language is compulsory, and Agricultural Science is an option. Why is this?”
The question, first asked last year, was back – louder and impossible to ignore.
“It has been so since I was in Primary One. It is still so now that I am a Professor and a Vice-Chancellor. We need to challenge that status quo,” he said.
Prof. Honyenuga said the contradiction was glaring that agriculture, which employs majority of the population and feeds everyone, was being treated in schools as an afterthought.
“We all agree that agriculture is the employer of the generality of our population. And I am sure even in Nigeria, English Language is compulsory, but Agric is an option.
We need to challenge this and find out what we can do to whip up interest so that our farmers will not only be old farmers, but young people will be attracted to the field of agriculture that feeds all of us.”
The three-day conference, running to November 13, is on the theme: “Innovation for Resilient Futures: Integrating Food Systems, Technology and Sustainable Agriculture.”
It is now one of HTU’s flagship international conferences, after a successful maiden edition in 2025 on “Rethinking the Future of Food and its Allied Systems in an Era of Sustainability and Circularity.”
The Vice-Chancellor said the conversations must not end in the auditorium. They must move into laboratories, classrooms, farms, industries, communities and policy spaces, and inspire new research, partnerships, and sustainable solutions.
He linked the theme to climate change, land degradation, flooding, and pollution from illegal mining (popularly known as galamsey).
He said the issue was not whether innovation was needed, but how swiftly Ghana could harness it.
Prof. Honyenuga pointed to HTU’s own record: Baobab research that cut fruiting from decades to under three years, Best Technical University in Ghana in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, and Best University in Ghana and Second-Best in West Africa in the 2026 GreenMetric World University Rankings.
“No single institution, sector or country can overcome today’s challenges alone. Researchers need policymakers. Policymakers need industry. Industry needs innovators. Farmers need access to technology, financing, and knowledge,” he called.
Among those present were keynote speakers Prof. John Ofosu-Anim, the Vice-Chancellor, Presbyterian University, Ghana, and Prof. Ernest Teye of University of Cape Coast, as well as Prof. Muhammad Ibrahim Yakasai, Vice-Chancellor, Sule Lamido University, Nigeria, Prof. Mathias Kleinke and a delegation from Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences in Germany.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/ Christabel Addo
12 Nov. 2026
Reporter: Ewoenam Kpodo, GNA