Involve us in resolving rice glut - Farmers cry out

Rice farmers in the five regions of the north have appealed to the government to put in place mechanisms to ensure that local rice farmers are consulted in the move to resolve issues concerning local rice production and marketing.

According to the farmers, although the government responded swiftly to their concerns regarding their inability to get a ready market for the hundreds of tonnes of local rice produced in the Fumbisi, Yagaba, Tono, Vea, Nasia and Nalerigu valleys, the problem still persisted.

At a meeting in Navrongo in the Upper East Region, convened by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) to, among other things, discuss strategies to boost rice production and marketing in the future, the farmers pointed out that the move to make Ghana self-sufficient in rice production would not succeed unless the farmers were themselves involved in decision-making to improve the sector.

Some of the farmers who expressed their sentiments at the meeting were Mr Samuel Abiayega from the Gbedembilisi Valley in the Fumbisi area, Alhaji Jibril from the Yagaba Rice Valley, Abdulai Inusah from the Sumbrungu-Karbeo Rice Valley, Mrs Humu Abdulai, Rev. John Akaribo from the Tono Rice Valley, Alhaji Ahmed Bogobiri from the Tono and overseas rice valley areas, and Mr Abubakar Mutalakimu from the Yagaba Valley.

The Head of Programmes and Advocacy at the PFAG, Mr Charles Nyaaba, observed that in 2018, Avnash Industry Ghana in Tamale guaranteed a ready market for rice farmers in northern Ghana.

“Nevertheless, its failure to buy rice in 2019 led to a glut in November and December, which triggered the rice campaign initiated by the PFAG,” he explained.

According to him, the PFAG had observed that after the campaign, many private individuals and organisations which had no idea of the difficulty “the farmers went through but are fortunate to have access to government institutions due to their proximity to the seat of government have started lobbying for support for rice sector development, without consulting any of the farmers in the valleys who are facing the problems”.

Challenges unresolved

The rice farmers also expressed regret about the fact that although arrangements were made for the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) and a private company, Avnash Industry Ghana, to purchase local rice from farmers, the challenges involved in getting market for the produce had not been resolved.

They said some of the farmers had incurred losses, either through their farms being consumed by bush fires or by middlemen and market women taking advantage of the situation to offer them ridiculously low prices.

The middlemen and the market women also purchased the rice on credit and later defaulted in payment on due dates.

The farmers further explained that they lacked the needed resources to transport their produce, especially from valleys in the Upper East Region, to Tamale for Avnash to purchase.

Challenges

According to the rice growers, challenges such as lack of access roads to rice fields, high cost of inputs and mechanisation services, including combine harvesters, planters, processors, rice milling equipment, tractor services and fertiliser, coupled with the destruction of rice fields by birds, cattle, bush fires, floods, among other things, were killing the business.

Bad experiences

The National President of the PFAG, Mr Abdul Rahman Mohammed, said: “As we speak, I have lost 50 acres of my rice farm to bush fire, and most of you too have such bad experiences."

He mentioned low and unreliable rainfall in recent times, bad feeder roads, difficulty in accessing credit for farming activities and limited access to extension services as some of the challenges that compounded the plight of the rice farmers.

Mr Mohammed noted that most of the challenges being faced by the farmers were “historical and efforts were, in the past and the present, implemented to address them but, unfortunately, they are far from over".