The Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) has held its 56th Annual General Meeting and Conference in Ho, bringing together engineers, policymakers, and industry players to review the institution’s activities, achievements, challenges, and the way forward.
The week-long programme, which opened on Tuesday, March 17, was on the theme: “Engineering the Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture Value Chain,” and attracted hundreds of engineering practitioners from across Ghana and other parts of Africa.
Mr Augustus Goosie Tanoh, Presidential Adviser on the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development, who represented President John Dramani Mahama, said for over five decades, GhIE had set the standard for engineering practice in Ghana.
He noted that while the country possessed a strong pool of engineering talent across multiple disciplines, the challenge remained whether existing systems allowed that capacity to scale.
Mr Tanoh stressed the need for Ghana to adopt engineering-led solutions to national challenges, rather than relying solely on administrative or legal responses.
He called for greater collaboration within the engineering industry through cooperatives and consortia that could pool resources, share equipment, and competitively bid for large-scale projects.
He also highlighted concerns about the growing reliance on foreign firms for major infrastructure projects, noting that this limited the development of local engineering capacity.
Touching on agriculture, Mr Tanoh described food security as one of Ghana’s most critical engineering challenges, revealing that the country spent billions of cedis annually on food imports—resources that could be retained through improved local production, storage, and processing systems.
He emphasised the need for engineered solutions such as cold chain systems, irrigation infrastructure, and renewable energy to support agro-processing and reduce post-harvest losses.
Madam Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui, Deputy Minister for Works, Housing and Water Resources, said the conference theme was timely given the increasing threats posed by climate variability, global disruptions, and population growth to food systems.
She noted that addressing challenges in agriculture required integrated engineering solutions, including irrigation systems, mechanisation, storage facilities, transport infrastructure, and digital technologies.
She reiterated the government’s commitment to modernising agriculture through investments in infrastructure, housing, and water systems that directly support agricultural productivity and resilience.
Mr Ludwig Annang Hesse, President of FGhIE, said the conference aimed to explore how engineering expertise and innovation could transform agriculture and drive inclusive economic growth.
He observed that despite decades of policy initiatives, Ghana continued to face challenges such as low productivity, high post-harvest losses, and limited value addition.
Mr Hesse called for a reset in national development strategies, stressing the need to prioritise engineering, science and technology while tackling systemic issues such as corruption.
He emphasised that engineering must go beyond infrastructure development to nation-building, urging professionals to uphold integrity, accountability, and innovation in their work.
Mr Stephen Adom, Municipal Chief Executive for Ho, who represented the Volta Regional Minister, commended GhIE for providing a platform to address critical national issues.
He said engineering remained central to transforming agriculture through improved irrigation, mechanisation, storage, agro-processing, and transportation systems.
The opening ceremony also featured goodwill messages from the Federation of African Engineering Organisations (FAEO), the West Africa Federation of Engineering Organisations, and engineering bodies from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya, and Liberia.
Other partners, including the Volta River Authority, which served as a headline sponsor, urged engineers to adopt innovative approaches to solving Ghana’s development challenges.
Participants are expected to, at the end of the conference, propose practical recommendations to strengthen Ghana’s food systems and promote sustainable agricultural development through engineering.
By Michael Foli Jackidy, GNA