The SkyFarm Blog is administered by:
First Name: Gabriel Last Name: Adukpo
Middle Names: Yao Agornyo
Title: Agriculturist, Freelance Writer, and Blogger.
Overview: I am an agriculturist with expertise in Extension and Rural Advisory Services and an interest in the media. I have over twenty years of work experience in the public sector and a record of writing success. Now a freelance writer, I devote this blog to promoting agriculture, its institutions, and its stakeholders.
Skills: Article and blog post writing, publication reviews, editing, project writing, and management
Education: I have a rich educational background in formal and professional training, distance learning, and volunteering.
Higher education: I am a product of the University of Ghana, Legon Accra, Ghana, where I obtained degrees in Agriculture and Adult Education. I also have a Certificate in Agricultural Administration and a Diplome de Langue in French.
Professional training:
Decentralized Planning, Budgeting, and Monitoring & Evaluation
Promotion of Rural Development
Soil Amelioration
Media studies:
Freelance Journalism
Web 2.0 and Social Media for Development
Farm Radio Scriptwriting and Program Development
Seminars and Conferences:
Testing the New Extensionist Learning Kit (GFRAS)
Writeshop: CTA Top 20 Innovations that Benefit Smallholder Farmers
Innovations in Extension and Rural Advisory Services
Volunteering: Pluralistic Advisory Service with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) in a Sustainable Livelihoods Project of Cadbury Cocoa Partnership.
Employment Experience: Key positions
I. Municipal Director of Agriculture, Civil and Local Government Service, Ghana
ii. District Agricultural Extension Officer, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana
Portfolio: My work, “Cowpea then Maize: An innovative approach to intercropping”, was selected among the Top 20 Innovations that Benefit Smallholder Farmers by CTA (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation), Wageningen, The Netherlands. In response to a call for papers, CTA again commissioned my entry, “Financing cassava value chains with equity, grant, and innovative microfinance lending: The case of a Good Practice Centre in Ghana.” I also contributed to radio programs and scripts and reviewed a background document for Farm Radio International, based in Ottawa, Canada.
Private sector experience: I formed and nurtured a credit union, a microfinance cooperative, into a full-blown society in the Credit Union Association (CUA).