Local firm commends proposed ban on rice import
The Sale and Marketing Executive of the Imaginario Company Limited, Ms Ama Adjem, has appealed to the government to support local rice farmers with modern storage facilities to help save and store their grains to avoid post-harvest losses.
She explained that failure to increase storage facilities for farmers to store enough to meet market demands would derail the intention of the government to impose a ban on rice importation in the next four years.
She said in view of the intention of the government, the company, an importer of rice, was exploring an option to venture into the production of rice locally for the market as part of efforts to help the government to realise its objective in local rice production.
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Welcome news
Speaking to the media at the opening of the Imaginario Shop at the Kaneshie Market in Accra, Ms Adjem stated that the planned ban on importation of rice was welcome news for the growth of the industry.
“We will advise the government to support local farmers with storage facilities such as silos so that we will have enough rice to distribute to consumers all year round.
“Our mission is to bring quality products to the consumer but more importantly to adhere to rules and regulations. Therefore, we will continue to do our best to bring quality products to our customers within the laws of the country.
“Local rice production is an option we will explore going forward. Our priority is how we bring quality products to our consumers at competitive pricing. We are in business for the long term,” she said.
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Aggressive plan
“We have a quality product we believe in and thus we want to bring it closer to our customers, the wholesalers. The rice market is saturated with many products but we stand out. Kaneshie, advantageous because it’s close to many of our key wholesalers,” Ms Adjem stated.
She said the company planned to import rice between 4,000 and 6,000 tonnes a year annually. We are a new company but we deal in quality products for the market and our target is to import and distribute between 4,000 and 6,000 tonnes of rice every year.
“We are extremely proud of our progress. We deal with a global supplier that adheres to the highest quality standards. Therefore, the quality of our product is second to none,” she added.