Programmes Manager at the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation has lauded the media involvement in boosting local agriculture consumption.

The country still imports majority of its agricultural consumption till this day.

Rice farmers for instance in the past years have lamented the increase in waste of produce on their farms as majority of the populace focuses on consuming imported rice.

As part of plans to draw attention to the consumption of local rice, Citi FM together with other Nongovernmental Organizations campaigned the benefits of consuming it. This campaigned brought some local rice brands to public light causing a sudden rush for the produce.

Speaking at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) dialogue under the theme, “Facilitating dialogue to enhance women participation in Agribusiness” Programmes Manager at the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation, Nana Ama Opong-Duah said the effort by the media coupled with a conscious effort can finally bridge the gap between import and export or local rice and other agricultural product.

“If you look at the Eat Ghana Rice Campaign, for instance, Citi FM, took it as their own personal project, and then they were driving it. So once you engage media and they understand also what the country stands to benefit from, then you will be able to get their buy-in, and it works even faster. So I think it’s important that we start looking at the role of the media in advocacy and defining it properly,” she said.

AGRA Value4Her Champion, Isaac Conduah added that through the program, value has been added to rice and some other agricultural product through research to withstand unforeseen shocks.

“I think all of you have heard the AGRA rice. When we started promoting rice, we brought in this AGRA rice. AGRA has been supporting local breeders from our research institutions, who pick a number of materials and breed them so that they can develop quality planting materials that can withstand these climate change shocks that we are talking about,” he said.

About AGRA VALUE4HER

Value4Her is AGRA’s continental program, aimed at increasing performance of women agri-enterprises, through access to market and trade, finance and investments, knowledge, skill, networking and building women’s collective voice. The program also seeks to expand women’s presence in markets where they trade, access new markets nationally, regionally, internationally and to acquire the capital, business and technical partners and resources required to support their growing business.