By Wisdom JONNY-NUEKPE
The Association of Ghana Rice Producers and Processors has expressed worry over an estimated one million metric tonnes of unsold paddy rice on the local market.
The glut, which is valued at GH¢5billion according to the association, is due to a severe shortage of buyers for the commodity.
Speaking to B&FT at a recently held World Bank Civil Society Organisation engagement on food security, an executive member of the Rice Producers and Processors Association, Dr. Terence Adda-Balinia, attributed the crisis to failure of state procurement systems to prioritise the purchase of Ghana rice.
The association alleged that the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) has consistently defied the President’s directive for NAFCO to purchase locally produced rice from Ghanaian farmers.
The situation, according to Dr. Adda-Balinia, has led major rice millers to suspend operations as the domestic market is being overwhelmed by an influx of cheap, smuggled rice.
“Over one million farmers are overwhelmed by huge losses, with the situation posing high threats to sustainability of the local rice industry. This is also creating a high tendency of unemployment crisis in the sector,” he said.
Ghana imports a large proportion – 60 percent – of its rice and spends more than US$500million on imports annually.
Though local producers and processors have described imported rice as often cheaper, better packaged and more attractive, making it more competitive, they have also said the huge import volumes are reducing demand for locally produced rice.
The association, however, explained that poor marketing and distribution channels, low farm-gate prices for produce, and the high cost of production remain key challenges confronting the local production sector.
The need for market protection measures
To address the current situation, producers and processors are appealing to government to prioritise guaranteed markets for domestically produced rice, arguing that significant investments in the sector risk being undermined without stronger policy support.
The association says the industry has already done “the hard work” to boost production and now requires targetted interventions to stabilise demand and prices.
Among the key proposals is a temporary six-month moratorium on rice imports that allows existing local stocks to be cleared. Producers also want the introduction of a transparent import quota system to ensure imports only cover supply gaps rather than compete directly with local output.
The group is further calling on Ghana Revenue Authority and security agencies to intensify enforcement against rice smuggling across the country’s borders, which they say continues to distort the market.
In addition, they are pushing for a directive requiring all public institutions -including those under National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) as well as schools, hospitals and prisons – to procure only locally produced rice.
The producers also want state agencies such as NAFCO and NADMO to source rice directly from local producers, alongside a system to map and link government institutions with domestic suppliers.
To support farmers and processors, the association is proposing the introduction of annual minimum farmgate prices and creation of a special financing facility to provide low-interest credit for rice millers, particularly during harvest periods.
Industry players say these measures are critical to sustaining growth, improving farmers’ incomes and reducing reliance on imports.
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