Government mandate for official data publication and dissemination on CountrySTAT web site

Ghana received a circular mission in May 2009 to backup the implementation of project activities, in particular, the mobilization of government support to the project at high level, to ensure ownership and sustainability.

During the mission a sensitization seminar of major stakeholders in Food and Agriculture Statistics took place. The National CountrySTAT Secretariat was established and in-country activities to further implement the project started.During the mission meetings were held with representatives of three Ministries namely: The Minister for Food and Agriculture; the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning; and the Minister for Trade and Industry. At these meetings the CountrySTAT philosophies were explained and a request for governmental support for the CountrySTAT Project in Ghana was made.

The CountrySTAT philosophy was accepted by all three ministries. Earlier the Ghana Statistical Service was appointed as the focal institution to work in collaboration with the Statistics, Research and Information Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The acceptance by the government of Ghana of the project and its mandate for the publication and dissemination of official data on the CountrySTAT web site was given by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Honourable Kwesi Ahwoi. Evidence of this mandate is contained in the keynote address, which he delivered personally at the 21st Session of AFCAS, which was held in Accra from October 28-31, 2009; and also in the keynote address of the Government Statistician, which she read on behalf of the Minister for Food and Agriculture during the Launch of CountrySTAT Project in Accra-Ghana on December 3, 2009.

Composition of the CountrySTAT Secretariat

	Mr. Eric Nyarko-Aboagye Information Technology Advisor Ghana Statistical Service P. O. Box GP 1098, Accra Tel. +233243001429 E-mail: eric.aboagye@statsghana.gov.gh
	Mr. Rochester Appiah Kusi Boateng Senior Programmer Ghana Statistical Service P. O. Box GP 1098, Accra Tel. +233244627034 E-mail: kusi.appiah@statsghana.gov.gh
	Mr. Samuel Oku Ag Director of Agriculture Statistics Ministry of Food and Agriculture P. O. Box M 37, SRID-MOFA, Accra Tel. +233208193118 E-mail : oku_samuel@hotmail.com
	Mr. Francis Dzah Head, Agriculture Statistics Ghana Statistical Service P. O. Box GP 1098, Accra Tel. +233206370354, +233242546810 Email: francis.dzah@statsghana.gov.gh, fdzah2002@yahoo.co.uk
	Mr. Daniel Denku Wawo Price Data Analyst Ministry of Food and Agriculture P. O. Box M 37, SRID-MOFA, Accra Tel. +233244087173 E-mail : wyadd@yahoo.co.uk
	Mr. Bright Atiase Database and Network Administrator Ghana Statistical Service P. O. Box GP 1098, Accra Tel. +233244931402 bright.atiase@statsghana.gov.gh, bslyp@yahoo.ca
	Mr. James Ayittey Information Systems Administrator Ministry of Food and Agriculture P. O. Box M 37, SRID-MOFA, Accra Tel. +233205943797 E-mail: jamiosson@yahoo.co.uk

Partners in Agriculture data production and Dissemination
in Ghana and also involved in the Implementation of the CountrySTAT Ghana Project

Statistics, Research and Information Directorate (SRID) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture
Veterinary Services Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture
Fisheries Commission of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture
Forestry Commission
Ghana Irrigation Development Authority
Ghana National Farmers and Fishermen Association
Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD)
Bank of Ghana
Ghana Meteorological Agency
Ministry of Trade and Industry
Policy Planning Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture
International Food Policy and Research Institute
World Food Programme
National Development Planning Commission
Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning
Ghana Statistical Service

Activities planned towards achieving the objectives of CountrySTAT Project

Activities planned towards achieving the objectives of the project in Ghana include the following:

1. Sensitization seminars - one sensitization seminar was held in May 2009 for major stakeholders in Food and Agriculture Statistics to explain the CountrySTAT Philosophy
2. Technical Working Group Meetings - so far one Technical Working Group Meeting Group Meeting was held on 24th June 2009 to discuss issues of statistical quality control, methodology and standards, cross-domain collaboration and other technical issues relating to the functioning of the CountrySTAT System.
3. Training of government officials to understand the CountrySTAT System and to use the PX-AXIS Software developed for CountrySTAT- the first training workshop was held from 21st -24th to train 22 government officials as Basic CountrySTAT Administrators
4. Launch of CountrySTAT Ghana - CountrySTAT Ghana was launched on 3rd December, 2009 to introduce the CountrySTAT System and web site to the general public.
5. Communication strategy - Two communication experts were recruited to develop a communication work plan that was rolled out from May to August 2009.The output of the experts include the preparation of reports, feature articles, news articles, and newsletters, which were published in some newspapers and also radio news reports that were aired on some radio stations.