Rice farmers cry for assistance
Gilbert Boyefio
01/09/2006
Rice farmers on the Kpong Irrigation Project at Asutsuare have called for government's assistance to enable them enhance the production and marketing of their produce.
Speaking in an interview with The Statesman at a rice durbar organised by the Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition, the store-keeper of the Asutsuare rice warehouse, Moses Donne, said lack of capital and market accessibility is gradually killing the rice industry in Ghana.
He said due to the lack of market for local rice and stiff competition from heavily subsidised imported rice, the warehouse since September, 2005, is housing over 21,000 maxi- bags of rice.
He said this situation has resulted in the bank, which usually provides soft loans for the farmers to cultivate their rice, to gradually begin to shy away from them.
He said farmers are now left with a headache of where to store their subsequent harvests.
Addressing Chiefs, farmers and people of the Asutsuare community at the rice durbar, the Interim National Co-ordinator of GTLC, Ibrahim Akalbila, said Ghana is among a group of developing countries that has been forced by the IMF and the World Bank to open up its economy to free trade through the reduction of import tariffs and the removal of other import restrictions that were in place to protect farmers and producers.
He said this may not have been a problem of alarming proportions if similarly, countries with which Ghana trades also reduced tariffs and removed barriers across board.
"Whilst the IMF and World Bank are forcing our government not to support its farmers and producers, developed countries have increased subsidies in many folds to their farmers and producers to produce cheaply and export to our opened markets," he added.
Mr Akalbila stated that developed countries have also put in place measures such as tariff peaks and tariff escalations to ensure that value added products from developing countries do not enter their markets.
He said, notwithstanding, efforts are being made by the developed countries to further open up the markets of the developing countries through schemes such as the Economic Partnership Agreements.
He said the current World trade regime, as well as the trade and agriculture policies being pursued by Ghana, poses a huge threat to the livelihoods of peasant farmers and small scale producer groups.
He said the message of the coalition to policy makers is straightforward: farming and processing of rice has social, economic and health implications on the livelihoods of many Ghanaians, adding that, rice farmers in the country have produced enough rice to feed the whole of the country yet, there is no market for their produce.
He said the annual best farmer award, although motivating, is not incentive enough to address the teeming problems of farmers. "Government needs to put in place and implement more policies that are farmer friendly and will also encourage more people to venture into farming instead of neglecting it," he stated.
He ended his message by appealing to government to adopt local rice in the school feeding programme, the feeding of prison inmates and state hospitals.
01/09/2006
Rice farmers on the Kpong Irrigation Project at Asutsuare have called for government's assistance to enable them enhance the production and marketing of their produce.
Speaking in an interview with The Statesman at a rice durbar organised by the Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition, the store-keeper of the Asutsuare rice warehouse, Moses Donne, said lack of capital and market accessibility is gradually killing the rice industry in Ghana.
He said due to the lack of market for local rice and stiff competition from heavily subsidised imported rice, the warehouse since September, 2005, is housing over 21,000 maxi- bags of rice.
He said this situation has resulted in the bank, which usually provides soft loans for the farmers to cultivate their rice, to gradually begin to shy away from them.
He said farmers are now left with a headache of where to store their subsequent harvests.
Addressing Chiefs, farmers and people of the Asutsuare community at the rice durbar, the Interim National Co-ordinator of GTLC, Ibrahim Akalbila, said Ghana is among a group of developing countries that has been forced by the IMF and the World Bank to open up its economy to free trade through the reduction of import tariffs and the removal of other import restrictions that were in place to protect farmers and producers.
He said this may not have been a problem of alarming proportions if similarly, countries with which Ghana trades also reduced tariffs and removed barriers across board.
"Whilst the IMF and World Bank are forcing our government not to support its farmers and producers, developed countries have increased subsidies in many folds to their farmers and producers to produce cheaply and export to our opened markets," he added.
Mr Akalbila stated that developed countries have also put in place measures such as tariff peaks and tariff escalations to ensure that value added products from developing countries do not enter their markets.
He said, notwithstanding, efforts are being made by the developed countries to further open up the markets of the developing countries through schemes such as the Economic Partnership Agreements.
He said the current World trade regime, as well as the trade and agriculture policies being pursued by Ghana, poses a huge threat to the livelihoods of peasant farmers and small scale producer groups.
He said the message of the coalition to policy makers is straightforward: farming and processing of rice has social, economic and health implications on the livelihoods of many Ghanaians, adding that, rice farmers in the country have produced enough rice to feed the whole of the country yet, there is no market for their produce.
He said the annual best farmer award, although motivating, is not incentive enough to address the teeming problems of farmers. "Government needs to put in place and implement more policies that are farmer friendly and will also encourage more people to venture into farming instead of neglecting it," he stated.
He ended his message by appealing to government to adopt local rice in the school feeding programme, the feeding of prison inmates and state hospitals.
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