The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku has revealed plans to establish an inter-ministerial task force to help combat the smuggling of rice out of the country.
Speaking at the Day 1, of the West African Rice Investment Roundtable, the Minister who also doubles as the Member of Parliament for Asunafo South Constituency explained that the move aims at helping Ghanaian rice farmers who often are placed at a severe economic disadvantage usually because they are being forced to compete with unfairly low prices.
“We are establishing an inter-ministerial task force to intensify surveillance and enforcement against rice smuggling through unauthorised border routes which continues to undercut our farmers.” He stated
Eric Opoku then added that the sector has currently open to private investment and partnerships explaining that the government has done its best to create a viable business environment for them to operate in .
“To the investors, financiers and development partners in this room, my message is simple. Ghana has done the work to direct the sector.We have mapped the opportunity, we have created the market certainty, we have aligned the incentives, we have built the monitoring backbone that lets you verify performance. What remains is partnership. And partnership is what we are ready for.” He added
Ghana currently faces a massive 44% deficit in its rice supply. While annual consumption stands at 1.7 million tonnes and is rising by 2% each year due to population growth, local production only covers 960,000 tonnes (a 56% self-sufficiency rate), leaving the country no other choice but to spend $320 million annually on foreign rice imports to cater for its 751,000-tonne gap.
The West Africa Rice Investment Roundtable is a high-level event organized by the ECOWAS Commission in collaboration with the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank (AfDB) with the primary objective of tackling the region’s $3.5 billion to $4 billion annual rice import bill.
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