TRIP REPORT
AfricaLink and Ghana’s Participation in
Regional Agricultural Research
December 1997

The AfricaLink Advisor traveled to Tamale, Kumasi, and Accra to visit agricultural research centers where support from AfricaLink/WARDA has been provided. The travel schedule to the North of Ghana accomodated a stopover in the town of Techiman as well, where on the recommendation of a local technology expert discussions were held with officials of local schools and a hospital who have expressed an interest in improving access to information technologies for their community.

Tuesday December 2 and Wednesday December 3, 1977

A request had been sent by Alassane Diallo of WARDA to Dr. Hector Mercer-Quarshie to advise him of the AfricaLink Advisor’s visit. A response was received from M.H.A. Bolaji in behalf of the SARI Director welcoming the visit. In the letter, Mr. Bolaji stated that their telephone system was incompatible with email. SARI returned its grant from WARDA for Internet connectivity.

An initial visit was paid to SARI late in the afternoon upon arriving in Tamale by road from Wa, meeting briefly with Director JC Norman at the center located some 30 kilometers from Tamale in the community of Nyankpala. He explained that they had secured a pro forma invoice from NCS as requested by AfricaLink/WARDA, received the grant from WARDA, and contracted with NCS to provide service. An NCS technician from Accra traveled to SARI, but was unable to achieve a connection to the NCS server over SARI’s telephone lines. Staff say NCS was selected because their office in Tamale is adjacent to the CSIR guest house.

SARI has in recent months secured a Ghana Telecoms owned and operated radiotelephone system called "WILLS" with 9 lines, replacing an earlier Ghana Telecoms rural radio system that they described as having "constant faults." An ordinary telephone is used, connected to a small box on the wall, linked to what looks something like a small directional television antenna on the roof. Lines have been installed in the residences of four senior staff, and in four main departmental offices. A ninth line is reserved for the SARI central fax machine.

SARI presently spends perhaps as much as US$600 per month on telecommunications charges using their existing phone system. Much of this may be international fax messages, though it was not possible to make a determination from the accounting records presented. These monies could presumably be applied at least in part to cover the running costs of an upgrade of their system, if that is what SARI decides to do.

Through a contact gleaned via the Internet at the TICCS center in Tamale, the AfricaOnline representative in Tamale was located and an evening meeting arranged with the AfricaLink Advisor. Of the available service providers in Ghana, AfricaOnline was of particular interest because of their expressed intention of offering a local access number for service in Tamale.

The technician for AfricaOnline explained that the WILLS system should be able to accommodate email, though only at a very slow speed. Upon returning to SARI the next morning, an attempt was made by the AfricaLink Advisor to connect to Internet Ghana in Accra at a modem speed of 1200 bits per second. For comparison purposes, the typical data transfer rate over telephone lines in the USA is 24 times faster. Three separate connections were made at the slow speed, and data were successfully transferred. Connection attempts at higher speeds were unsuccessful.

Technical options for SARI were discussed with the AfricaOnline representative. He promised to meet with staff of SARI and to assist with the preparation of a proposal to donors if invited. Extensive discussions were then held with Mr. Bolaji and with Stephen Aikins, the SARI workshop manager. Four options were discussed:

1. Use the 1200bps WILLS link for email-only connectivity to the Internet, for now via a service provider of SARI’s choosing in Accra or Kumasi, but as soon as possible changing to a service provided from Tamale. AfricaOnline has announced its intention of providing service from Tamale by the end of the year. Telecoms charges would likely be high for even a small volume of email.
2. Install a microwave telephone system to replace the WILLS system, allowing fast modem connections in addition to voice over multiple lines. Capital costs for the two sides of the circuit may run $8000. It is not known what price Ghana Telecoms would charge monthly to link the system to their network. As GTZ has programs at the center and would benefit from the link, they might be asked to contribute part of the costs.
3. Install a fiber-optic link to Tamale, using the existing electric towers. The cost may be quite high, but Ghana Telecoms might be interested in paying some of the cost since it would afford them the opportunity to open a telephone exchange in Nyankpala to serve the general public.
4. Operate a "sneakernet" with an Internet system housed in a Tamale office, using couriers to ferry messages to the SARI center. This would clearly be the cheapest option.

It was agreed that SARI would consider these and possibly other options, consulting with the AfricaOnline technician and others in Tamale, before preparing a proposal for submission to AfricaLink/WARDA and other donors for funding.

Persons Visited:

• Professor J.C. Norman, Director
• M.H.A. Bolaji, Assistant Administrative Officer
• Stephen Aikins, Workshop Manager
• Stuart Walker, AfricaOnline, +233 ([0]71) 22370, TransIT@africaonline.com.gh
• Fr. John Kirby, Tamale Institute for Cross-Cultural Studies, ticcs@ug.gn.apc.org, but especially a technician on staff knowledgeable about the email system

Thursday December 4, 1997

A request had been sent by Alassane Diallo of WARDA to Dr. O.B. Hemeng, the Acting Director, to advise him of the AfricaLink Advisor’s visit. No response was received. However, via the Internet contact was made with Dr. Edmund Browne of the Department of Medical Science at the University of Science and Technology. Dr. Browne telephoned the CRI and made contact with Dr. Ernest Otoo. An appointment was arranged. Dr. Browne also made arrangements for accommodations at his department’s guest house on campus.

The AfricaLink Advisor accompanied Dr. Otoo to their demonstration farm at Adu-Gyama, some 15 kilometers west of Kumasi along the Sunyani road. The interview was conducted in the vehicle along the way.

The CRI is located some 15 kilometers southeast of Kumasi on the Accra road. It has six telephone lines used by various projects. The International Institute for Tropical Agriculture maintains one office under Dr. Joe Suh, who has an email account through NCS. The Ghana Grains Development Project also has an email account. The third email account is the one facilitated by AfricaLink/WARDA for Dr. Otoo’s unit, the National Agriculture Research Project.

Dr. Otoo was asked why a third email account was deemed necessary in their facility. He noted that it was not always possible to borrow access to the other two, particularly when their staff traveled. Prior to opening the third account, Dr. Otoo’s unit typically relied upon quite inconvenient and costly communications centers in Kumasi.

AfricaLink/WARDA provided $1000 to finance a modem, installation, and a one-year subscription through NCS. The system is now used by Dr. Otoo’s programs, particularly in his capacity as the new chair of West Africa’s Inland Valley Consortium and coordinator of Ghana’s own Inland Valley Consortium program. The plantain research division, as well as the physiology division, also make use of this new email system. To receive funding under AfricaLink/WARDA, the CRI had to sign an agreement assuring they would make the email system available to any scientist within the Institute.

To recover costs for telephone line usage, a fee is charged of anyone using the email system. Outgoing messages are assessed a flat fee, irrespective of size, of 500 cedis (about 25 US cents). Incoming messages are free. This represents a reduction in costs of 50 percent. The cost reduction was made possible when NCS opened a new point of presence in Kumasi, enabling the Institute to save on the telephone calls previously made to Accra. Dr. Otoo noted that the Ghana Grains Development Project still charges 1000 cedis for outgoing messages, plus 500 cedis for incoming. The IITA system is also available for messages by center staff, but only as an occasional courtesy, at no charge.

In the nine months since the email system has been installed on a computer in Dr. Otoo’s office, he says communications is now no longer a headache. Collaboration with partners is now much easier. These partners include Tokyo University in Japan which has a WARDA trustee, Shimane University in Japan which supports a watershed management project, Reading University in England which supports work on participatory rural appraisal for rice variety selection, the National Resource Institute in England, and of course the various networks of WARDA supported by USAID and others. Dr. Otoo says he sees very little personal email traffic, although it is allowed.

Dr. Otoo listed examples of the types of communications he sees for the Inland Valley Consortium: distribution of minutes of meetings, reminders to send required reports, notices of decisions reached, and assessments of project funding proposals. He noted that it is a great convenience and money saver to handle the project assessments via email, avoiding the necessity of reviewing them at their meetings three times a year, and allowing more time at those meetings for discussions of their research.

Language is a problem at times, since not all members of the Consortium are bilingual in English and French, the two official languages of the Consortium. The AfricaLink Advisor discussed with Dr. Otoo the merits of language translation software. Dr. Otoo agreed to discuss this with his predecessor chairman from Burkina Faso when they meet in a week. AfricaLink might support field testing of translation software, which typically offer only crude translations and have difficulty coping with technical terms.

Also discussed was the AfricaLink Help Desk program to assist with technical questions and the organization of training seminars. Dr. Otoo expressed enthusiasm for this form of technical support for his networks.

The meeting concluded in Adu-Gyama village with a tour of the demonstration farm. An audio interview was recorded, and photographs were taken of Dr. Otoo and one of his students, Kankam Yeboah, who is doing doctoral research supervised from the International University of Japan.

Persons Visited:

• Dr. Ernest Otoo
• Kankam Yeboah
  Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research
  Fax +233 ([0]21) 779809/777655
  
• A request had been sent by Alassane Diallo of WARDA to Professor J.C. Norman, Deputy Director General for Agricultural Research to advise him of the AfricaLink Advisor’s visit. No response was received.

Arriving in Accra late afternoon on Thursday December 4, a required briefing at USAID/Accra precluded stopping by CSIR to make contact with staff. Friday December 5 was a holiday in Ghana. The visit to CSIR in Accra was therefore cancelled.

Other Meetings

In Techiman, a number of brief informal visits were held with contacts gleaned via the Internet. These were not directly connected with AfricaLink activities. However to conduct AfricaLink business it was necessary that a stop be made in Techiman in any event, and it therefore seemed prudent to take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about Internetworking prospects and issues there.

The headmaster and science center coordinator of Techiman Secondary School provided a tour of their science lab. The school has six computers obtained through a national program. Two are in the physics lab. Groups of perhaps 20 students at a time gather around a terminal to watch a demonstration by an instructor. Each student typically is permitted an opportunity to type his or her name, save a file, and open a file. Given the number of students, there is typically time for little else. Their hope is to obtain an Internet account by the end of the year, though they recognize it will not be of great benefit if there are not more computers.

The situation was much the same at the Adventist Vocational Institute. Although also interested in the Internet, the headmaster said there is no telephone line to the Institute. When asked if a grant of $6000 were available whether it should be applied to a telephone line or more computers, the headmaster said he would take more computers. They receive quite a few donated computers, but these are usually Intel286 computers or older which are not usable. The Institute offers computer classes three terms a year, at about $25 a term for day students and $100 a term for boarding students.

A final stop in Techiman was to Dr. George Bonsu of the local Ministry of Health office. He has had experience with the Internet while studying in England, and is interested in its application to the health field. It was suggested that he inquire at the Accra hospital at Korli-Bu about the possibly free email services of HealthNet.

In Accra, meetings were held with persons who had heard news via the Internet of the visit to Techiman and other towns in Ghana. Nii Quaynor, proprietor of the NCS Internet services firm provided a tour of his facilities and a discussion of local Internetworking issues. Eric Yankah and Bill Owen discussed an upcoming conference for Internet users Mr. Yankah is organizing, as well as the current situation in Techiman where Mr. Owen resides. Mr. Owen was the person who facilitated the AfricaLink Advisor's meetings in Techiman as well as the contact in Tamale at TICCS (see above) that led to the meeting there with AfricaOnline. Louis Aikins was interested in ways assistance might be provided to his home town of Saltpond.

Persons Visited:

• George Amano-Kyereme, Headmaster, Techiman Secondary School
• Minta Adu-Parko, Head of Science Department and Coordinator of the Science Resource Centre, Techiman Secondary School
• Pastor Adade Boateng, Headmaster, Adventist Vocational Institute, Box 183, Techiman
• Dr. George Bonsu, Ministry of Health, Box 109, Techiman, Tel +233 ([0]653) 2050
• Nii Quaynor, Director, NCS, +233 ([0]27) 554381, quaynor@ghana.com
• Eric Yankah, Director, Materials Management, Volta River Authority, Box M77, Accra, tel +233 ([0]21) 665073, enyankah@ncs.com.gh
• Wilfred (Bill) Owen, Jr., Managing Director, Raston Enterprises Ltd., Box 252, Techiman, B/A, tel/fax +233 ([0]653) 2141, wowen@reston.aau.org
• Louis Aikins, Accountant, Unilever, tel +233 ([0]21) 504453, louis.aikins@unigh.sprint.com
• Denise Rollins, USAID/Accra
• Avril Kudzi Adjarko, USAID/Accra