Lessons from Working with the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA): The Case of the Ghana-Question and Answer Service (Ghana-QAS)

In Ghana from 2000 to 2011, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute for Scientific and Technological Information (CSIR-INSTI) with technical and financial support from the EU-ACP Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), implemented the Question and Answer Service (QAS) to contribute towards the country?s developmental goal of achieving national food security and sustainable livelihoods. The overall objective of the QAS was to contribute towards improved agricultural productivity, food security and rural livelihoods through effective management and dissemination of agricultural information. This paper presents an overview of the Ghana-QAS, documents the achievements which ensured that stakeholders (farmers, research scientists, lecturers and students) were better served with timely, relevant and accurate information, the lessons learned from implementing the QAS in Ghana and experiences gained by working with the CTA.