I am
just leaving Ghana to New York. We just opened in Accra a building next to the NYU in Accra campus which
we will use as the Ghana office of our Center for Technology and Economic
Development (CTED). We are hoping that
our research will actually improve the lives of poor people. We do not only want to talk about it, but to
actually get something done!
The research center is across the road from
the NYU in Accra student academic Center, where undergraduate students do a
semester abroad, taking a full range of course.
Our research in Ghana is funded
primarily from external grants, and we will be getting the NYU undergraduates
involved in our research. We of course
also have resident Ghanaian scholars interested and involved in our activities.
I also spent several days in the Kumawu
Afram plains, where we are doing our
research on small holder farming, with some of our Ph.D. students and Center staff. A separate group is working on research in
the Volta region of Ghana. There are the
usual poor country problems we face doing research outside of Accra – lack of
water and electricity being the principal ones.
My team and I however were all enjoyed the beauty and the calmness of
the place – the heat was a bother to some, but a something I loved.
Back in Accra, we held a seminar at Esoko,
a great African technology firm which works with smallholder farmers sending price,
weather and agricultural advice to farmers on their mobile phones. We will be writing more about Esoko in the
coming weeks. Our CTED occasional paper
should be starting soon, and the Esoko piece should be one of the early
ones.
All in all, a wonderful stay in Ghana, with
lots of research done and a good time had by everyone in our team.
