Action plan for rice production

Page 32
02-10-08

GHANA’s rice industry is to produce high quality rice to meet 70 per cent of the domestic consumption needs of the population.
This follows the development of a five-year action plan (Rice Industry Action Plan 2008-2013) that will double local rice production and enhance the country’s competitiveness in the industry as part of efforts to transform the agricultural sector.
The action plan was developed by players in the rice industry at a two-day workshop organised by an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), ACDI/VOCA, which is the implementing partner for the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) in the southern agricultural zone.
The MiDA is responsible for managing the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Ghana Programme and the Regional Implementation Consultants (RICs) for the country’s southern zone.
Stakeholders at the workshop who developed the action plan included rice input suppliers, small and large-scale rice farmers, leaders of farmer-based organisations, rice processors, wholesalers, retailers and exporters, as well as financial service providers.
“This action plan will also serve as a map that will guide our activities in support of rice sector participants for the remainder of the MCC-funded MiDA agricultural project,” a Senior Technical Adviser at ACDI/VOCA, Dr Owuraku Sakyi Dawson, said.
The industry participants were of the view that there was the need for training in agronomy, water management and post-harvest handling for all actors in the sector and indicated that the training in those areas was to start next month.
According to the action plan, what needed to be done to address the constraint of poor seed and the selection of varieties included multiplication of approved high-yielding varieties which satisfied market demand for taste and other cooking characteristics for the various agro-ecological zones.
“Rice industry stakeholders are of the view that the multiplication of the approved high-yielding varieties with characteristics that are demanded by the market will start in February 2009,” it indicated.
Dr Dawson said ACDI/VOCA was proud to be the country’s MiDA partner in the implementation of MiDA’s agriculture project in the southern zone, adding that “even more important, we are proud to be a partner to all the farmers and firms which will realise the rich potential of Ghana’s agricultural and agribusiness sectors”.
The workshop was, among other things, to verify the preliminary findings of the rice value chain analysis conducted to enhance industry competitiveness, develop a vision for the rice industry and develop an action plan with industry participants on what was needed to realise the vision of a more competitive rice industry.