Rice Development Fund needed

By Bernard Yaw Ashiadey

The Business Support and Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund, in partnership with Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body (GRIB), has started advocacy for the establishment of a rice development fund.

Expensive bank credit establishes the need for such a find, BUSAC and GRIB said.

Its purpose will be to provide capital and resources to undertake several activities within the rice sector to ensure that consumers enjoy the highest quality of locally produced rice.

GRIB said the fund will increase the production of local rice, increase its quality, increase incomes of farmers and reduce the over-reliance on importation of rice.

At a week’s training workshop to educate players and stakeholders in the rice industry on how to lobby and collaborate with policy makers, donors and government for the establishment of the fund, BUSAC assured members that it will do everything possible to secure the funds to improve the state of the rice industry in Ghana.

Among the proposals were that a certain fraction of the 20% tax on rice imports be set aside for the fund.

“BUSAC will do anything possible to support GRIB in securing funds for rice production from government and all stakeholders. We promise that we will contribute our quota to bringing out quality rice when the funds are given,” Dr. Reuben Tettey, Business Advocacy Trainer with the BUSAC Fund.

President of GRIB, John Awuni, spoke on the need for government, donors and all stakeholders to join forces to provide the necessary materials and resources that are needed by the farmers.

“We hope that everyone will see the need to help set-up the fund and contribute to it so that consumption of locally produced rice will be increased.

“I will also like to state that when the funds are set-up, it will be used in the rightful manner to help farmers, brokers and marketers in the industry,” he said

A representative from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Manu Addae, commended the effort of GRIB and stated that government has noticed the importance of rice to the economy and stand ready to collaborate with GRIB to improve rice production.

He said government has outlined programmes to rehabilitate dams to continue irrigating rice farms.

Statistics indicate that farmers continue to rely on rainfall for 70% of water supply to their farms.

Some of the challenges rice farmers face relate to the lack of machinery (simple harvesting tools, combine harvesters, tractors, threshers, power tillers), and quality rice seeds, and inadequate irrigation of fields.