Minister of Communications and Digital Economy (MOCDE), Ousman Bah, reiterates the government’s unwavering dedication to integrating Information, Communication, and Technologies (ICT) into the agricultural sector, aiming to elevate its performance.
“I reaffirm the government’s commitment to mainstreaming ICTs for enhanced agricultural outcomes,” stated Minister Bah through the deputy permanent secretary of MOCDE at the opening of the Deep Learning Indabax-The Gambia three-day training at UTG.
Indaba refers to locally-organized gatherings fostering knowledge and capacity development in machine learning and artificial intelligence across African countries. Deep Learning IndabaX focuses on spreading such knowledge and building capacity.
Minister Bah expressed support for initiatives creating an enabling environment for digital technologies to flourish, welcoming events like IndabaX-The Gambia.
He emphasized that embracing artificial intelligence is crucial, and the youth must benefit from this wave of innovation through well-planned strategies.
According to Minister Bah, data science has become a vital asset in planning and policymaking, especially in the global south, demanding more informed and evidence-based interventions.
Although agriculture was intended to be The Gambia’s socioeconomic transformation bedrock, its dwindling contribution to the GDP and overall development results from limited innovation in the sector.
To address this, IndabaX training focused on ‘deep learning in agriculture,’ encouraging participants to devise transformative solutions for the agricultural sector.
The theme of IndabaX-The Gambia aligns with the e-agriculture strategy 2020-2024 and the National Development Plan RF-2023-2027, prioritizing technology adoption to improve agricultural outcomes.
Minister Bah stressed the need to move beyond conventional e-platforms, focusing on deploying tools for forecasting, pest and disease control, and overall yields.
