By Angela Ayimbire, GNA
Tema, July 22, GNA – Dr Chris Kpodar, Chief Technical Advisor, Centre for Greater Impact Africa (CGIA), has called on developing nations to embrace Artificial Intelligence to transform agriculture for food security.
Speaking at a forum on the topic “Artificial Intelligence and Sustainable Development,” Dr Kpodar, who is a global Artificial Intelligence Specialist, said the infusion of AI in agriculture would not only help farmers automate their farming activities but would also shift from unpredictability to precise cultivation for higher crop yield and better quality while using fewer resources.
He said Ghana and other developing nations could find solutions to the unstable weather conditions that affect agriculture productivity through Artificial Intelligence.
“The next stage is for the governments of these developing nations to step out and embrace the technology,” Dr Kpodar, who served as a consultant for Africa and the Middle East, advising governments and companies on investment, stated at a forum organized by the Ghana News Agency.
He explained that “through the AI mechanism, a helicopter could be deployed to spread the ‘clouds’ with the necessary ingredients to generate rainfall at a particular location in the quantity needed, and it has a way of minimizing it.”
Dr Kpodar, who worked with most major French multinationals, mentioned that the application of AI would also help monitor soil and improve a wide range of agriculture-related tasks.
He said the traditional methods that were used by farmers were not sufficient to produce enough to satisfy the needs of Ghanaians because of the unpredictable weather vagaries.
“Greenhouses have been used in the past as technology to produce all year round in Europe and some parts of Africa, but using AI is not expensive when the tools are bought in bulk,” he added.
Dr Kpodar said climatic factors such as rainfall and temperature, among others, played an important role in the agricultural life cycle as they could affect a country’s food security both negatively and positively.
GNA