Post-harvest losses account for 30 to 40 per cent of food wastage in Ghana, according to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

The weak connection between farmers and buyers has largely been blamed for this situation.

Fortunately, a mobile and web application seeks to solve that challenge.

The Kuafo MarketPlace, has been developed by the Institute for Scientific and Technological Information of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-INSTI).

Kuafo is an online platform for farmers, agro-input shops and marketers to sell their goods and services.

There are two versions; an online version and a mobile app which is available on Google Playstore.

The App developed through the Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) programme, it is meant to prevent fraud and establish trackability.

A user should be a member of a registered Farmer-Based Organization (FBO) or be verified by the platform managers to be able to advertise on the platform.

The application also has a feature that enables prospective buyers to directly contact the seller of any commodity before any transaction can be agreed upon.

The main aim of this deliverable was to find out how research work impacts economically.

CSIR-INSTI is known to be the clearing house for all research works.

This portal is meant to showcase all CSIR Technologies to the international community.

Brief background of the Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) Project

Funded by Global Affairs Canada, this project provides direct funding to the Government of Ghana to improve food security. It is also meant to make the agriculture sector more modern, equitable and sustainable.

The project seeks to implement a comprehensive market-oriented approach to farming and to strengthen and modernize agricultural extension services.

The Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) project is demand driven concerned with the agriculture value-chain.

The Institute for Scientific and Technological Information of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-INSTI) was given the responsibility of handling one digitization component of the entire MAG project.

The Kuafo Market Place is one of the four deliverables which were developed based on output requirements that emerged from various meetings and visits with and to stakeholders, as well as various groups within the agriculture value-chain.

Source: myjoyonline.com