Rice farmers and processors in the five regions of the north have embarked on a peaceful protest in Tamale in the Northern Region to draw the government’s attention to the worsening challenges confronting the rice industry and other locally grown grains.
The challenges include the lack of ready market for locally produced rice and other grains, market glut, influx of cheap imports and the government’s failure to purchase local farm produce as promised.
The protesters held placards with inscriptions such as: “Eat Ghana rice, eat healthy and strong,” “Say no to smuggled and expired rice,” “Boycott Farmers’ Day until farmers are heard,” and “Government promised to buy every grain. Where are you?”.
Marching through the principal streets of Tamale last Monday to present a petition to the Northern Regional Minister, Ali Adolf John, the aggrieved protestors, comprising rice producers, processors, cooperatives, women grain traders, aggregators and millers, said the situation was threatening their livelihoods and pushing Ghana’s grain value chain to the brink of collapse.
They said the influx of cheap and substandard rice into the country had forced major millers to suspend operations, which they indicated was threatening the livelihoods of over a million farmers nationwide.
They added that an estimated million tonnes of paddy rice, valued at GH¢5 billion, remained unsold in farming communities due to severe shortage of buyers.
The farmers and processors, therefore, called on the government to ban rice and maize imports for six months to allow the clearance of existing local stock, as well as lift the ban on soya bean exports to create markets for farmers, since local processors lacked the capacity to absorb all the produce.
A member of the Committee for the Promotion of Ghana Rice, Maize and Soya Commodities, Jawbaratu Abdul Aziz, who read the petition, pointed out that although grains contributed about 20 per cent to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and sustained millions of livelihoods, they were on the verge of collapse.
She said the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) had, in September this year, assured farmers it would purchase excess rice and maize to stabilise the market but it was yet to fulfil that assurance.
“We believed them. Farmers across the country were jubilant. Sadly, up till now, no buying is taking place on the ground, and the farmer’s plight has remained the same,” she added.
Ms Aziz further observed that the harvest season in many parts of the country had ended without a single buyer showing up.
That, she said, left farmers uncertain about how to recover their investments or prepare for the next planting season.
Ms Abdul Aziz, therefore, stressed that “While we hear that an additional GH¢ 100 million will be disbursed for grain purchases, many of us have lost confidence in how these resources are managed because it does not get to the real farmers on the ground”.
The Chairman of the Association of Ghana Rice Producers and Processors, Alhaji Saibu Braimah, said the group had sent many letters to the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry about unapproved rice imports but no concrete actions had been taken.
He stated that over 200 tonnes of rice and 400 tonnes of maize were currently locked up in warehouses without a ready market and added that the GH¢100 million government allocation for grain purchases was not even enough to purchase a quarter of the available stock.
Alhaji Braimah said the farmers would boycott this year’s “Farmers’ Day” celebration, saying, “Farmers’ Day” is meant to celebrate our achievements, but what are we celebrating when farmers are suffering?”
The Northern Regional Minister, Ali Adolf John, who received the petition commended the farmers for contributing to the food security of the country and gave the assurance that their concerns would receive urgent attention.
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