The projects, which commenced five years ago, have seen the construction of a Kumawu Palace Museum, the establishment of a land administration secretariat, the Kumawuman Educational Fund, Kumawuman Development and Investment Trust and the CETD, which serves as a centre for research and training.

Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua, Paramount Chief of Kumawu speaking at the CTED Forum to outdoor the projects, expressed gratitude to having these projects and stated that he was particularly concerned about raising the standard of education in the area.

He said quality education played a critical role in the development of any community and that was why the setting up of the educational fund was important and welcoming. The Fund awarded scholarship to seven brilliant but needy Senior High School students with each taking GH¢ 2,000.

The forum also witnessed the introduction of mobile application that has been developed to help smallholder farmers in the area to revolutionise the way they trade and access new markets. The presentation highlighted the deployment of mobile apps, android phones and drone technologies by the centre in partnership with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

It is to help farmers demarcate and map their farms and also helping to find easy and quick markets for their produce.  Prof Nyarko, who is also Director of the Centre, said the development of these technologies was to ensure that some challenges that farmers were confronted with were curtailed.

“The foremost way in which economic development can be enhanced is through technology. By utilising mobile apps, sophisticated image recognition processing and big data, CTED can gain insights to market trends, agricultural yields, flow of goods, and much more,” he added.

He said the data had the potential to inform community leaders and members for long-term planning and maximum socio-economic impact. Dr Nii Sowa, the Ghana Country Director of International Growth Centre, a supporting donor, said his outfit was impressed with the projects and assured stakeholders of their continued assistance towards the project.

The other projects like the Kumawuman Development Investment Trust were created to provide financial planning and income-generating opportunities to the community. Now in its second year of operation, the Kumawuman Palace Museum, founded by CTED and the Traditional Council, showcased an exhibition featuring traditional artifacts contributed from community members, documentary films, a chieftaincy administration guide, and cultural heritage programmes.