The gesture formed part of the $8million intervention by the Korea International Corporation Agency (KOICA) under its Rice Value Chain Support Programme (RVCSP) for farmers.

The KOICA in June 2021 launched its RVCSP, now being implemented in five beneficiary districts in the Region; Gomoa East, Assin Fosu, Assin North, Assin South, and Twifo Atti-Morkwa.

The project seeks to improve the quality of life of rural farmers in the Region through increased rice production and income of farmers.

It is also aimed at leveraging the capacities deployed by the KOICA rice value chain interventions with machinery and equipment, knowledge, and skills training programmes to increase output.

Dubbed: “Central Region Movement for Planting for One More Square Meter of Rice for the Next generation,” the move had been spearheaded by CRCC and the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

Addressing beneficiary farmers at a brief presentation ceremony, Mr Moon Heon Kong, the Country Director of KOICA, said the RVCSP had a broader goal of increasing rice value addition among farmers in the beneficiary districts of the Region.

He commended Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, the Regional Minister, for her commitment and support to making the Region the hub of quality rice production. He said rice had become an important staple on the Ghanaian menu to the extent
that its value was far beyond what it had traditionally been known for.

Aside from the nutritional value, he said, the initiative buttressed the policy of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to attain the country’s estimated self-sufficiency in rice production by 2023/2024.

“The estimated USD500 million used to import rice into the Ghanaian market can significantly reduce with initiatives such as the “Central Region Movement for Planting One More Square Meter of Rice for the Next Generation.

“This is a progressive initiative that will eventually help preserve the country’s hard-earned forex, help create jobs with improved livelihoods around the value chain activities, contribute to local economic development, and many other benefits,” the Country Director of KOICA said.

For her part, Mrs Assan said the region had the potential to produce enough rice to feed the country and boost the economy and livelihoods of farmers.

She said the Region had strategized to become the fulcrum of rice production and rice seedlings for rice farmers in the country.

“Undoubtedly, the region has the capacity and prospects to produce rice to meet local demand and for export and I encourage you all to support,” she added.