- Only one-third of Ghanaians consume rice produced locally, Research
- We are running at a loss, Rice farmers bemoan
- There’s one 50% value for rice harvested in recent times, Rice Millers Association
Convener of the Rice Millers Association of Ghana, Yaw Adu Twum, has said there are not enough structures for local rice farmers to store their produce after harvesting.
According to him, the current weather condition – harmattan dries up their harvested rice thereby, leaving the rice broken when milled.
This, he said, lowers the value of the rice by 50% and in turn, makes rice farmers run at a loss.
Mr Twum furthered that several calls on the Ministry of Agriculture, Finance Ministry and other relevant key stakeholders to help find a lasting solution to the aforementioned problem proved futile.
In an interview with Citi Business News, the Convenor of Rice Millers Association of Ghana said, “At this point that the harmattan has set in the rice is totally dried up so when I mill, it comes out a hundred percent broken and that means that the value that I put on the rice will be reduced by fifty percent, and so I run at a loss. This can be mitigated by simply putting in structures that will store the rice during harvest so that we don’t talk about glut.”
“We have been talking and talking but nobody is listening. I’ve gone all the way from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Finance with a proposal to bring in US Exim Bank which was ready to give us a facility so that we install silo facilities that can take about a hundred thousand metric tons across the country so that we can put in the surplus but it came to nought, nobody took me seriously. So that proposal is dead at the Ministry of Finance as I talk to you,” he added.
Meanwhile, research has shown that Ghanaians consume only one-third of rice produced locally.
