Rice becoming staples in Africa

The Vice President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mrs Leticia Osafo-Addo, has said rice is fast becoming a staple food in most African countries, including Ghana, hence the need to devote resources spent in its importation to support the local rice industry.

She made this known at the launch of three brands of locally produced rice.

The brands, Oman Ba, Dada Ba and Gold Star, produced by farmers in Asutuare, with support from Ghana-made Products, using modern technology, are on the market.

Mrs Osafo Addo expressed the view that "the survival of the newly introduced products would largely depend on whether Ghanaians patronise the local products as against imported perfumed rice. She called on Ghanaians to patronise the locally produced rice in order to encourage rice farmers to stay in business to safeguard the country's food security. Mrs Osafo Addo commended the managing director of Ghana-made Products, Mrs Comfort Aniagyei, for the initiative adopted to market locally produced rice.

Mrs Aniagyei for her part said the motivation to market the locally produced rice was informed by the benefits one could derive from patronising made-in-Ghana products, as by doing so Ghanaians would be helping to sustain the local economy and also provide employment opportunities for citizens.

She expressed regret that Ghana continued to depend on grants and donor funds to support the local economy.

"Country's like China have kept their economies alive through the maintenance of their local industries, making countries across the world to clamour for their goods, which years ago were regarded as substandard," she said.

Mrs Osafo Addo appealed to stakeholders in the local rice industry and the government to attach some urgency to the implementation of aggressive national policies that could make Ghana the bread basket of Africa.

She commended the government's efforts at creating the enabling environment for private sector growth but appealed for more support for the sector.

The products, according to Mrs Aniagyei, went through vigorous research, de-stoning and sorting to ensure that end products were free from debris.

A food scientist, Mrs Sabina Anokye Mensah, who chaired the function, said the country's rice demand currently stood at 700,000 metric tons but the local industry could only produce 150,000 tons, leaving a deficit of 550 metric tons.

This problem, she said, could be solved if the local rice farmer could be assisted to employ modern methods of farming.

She said the emergence of GhanaMade company on the market was opportune as it would contribute to the growth of the country's informal economy, which had seen major setbacks following the influx of foreign products on the market.