The Ghana Association of Agricultural Economists (GAAE) has taken a step to build the capacity of Postgraduate Students and Early-Career Researchers in practical data analysis through a Pre-conference workshop As part of its 8th Annual Conference at KNUST.
The Pre-conference event, held at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), was designed to equip aspiring researchers with modern econometric tools and techniques for data analysis.
The two-day workshop had a total of 65 participants from KNUST, University of Ghana, UDS and Research Institutes under Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Secretary of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the GAAE 2025 Conference, Dr. Faizal Adams, highlighted the purpose of the initiative, stating it was to "improve the capacity of participants to become well-grounded in the application of cutting-edge econometric tools in their research work.” It is also a strategic move for the Association to increase its membership among postgraduate students and early career researchers and encourage networking among postgraduate students across the public universities in Ghana.
The training focused on three topics, namely: Technology Adoption & Impact Analysis, Productivity and Efficiency Analysis, and Market Integration & Price Analysis. The workshop facilitators include Dr. Seth Etuah from KNUST, Prof. Gideon Danso-Abbeam from UDS and Prof. Bright Owusu Asante from KNUST.
Some of the trainees reported to the Pre-conference workshop Coordinator, Dr. David Boansi, that organizers should make it a five-day training workshop during next year’s GAAE Conference.
In his opening remarks before the workshop started, the Chairman of the LOC, Prof. Robert Aidoo, encouraged trainees to participate actively to make the program meaningful and impactful. He concluded by acknowledging the financial support of the African Agribusiness Consortium (AAC), Legacy Crop Improvement Center (LCIC), Yedent Group of Companies and Private individuals in organizing this year’s GAAE Conference.
