MoFA To Cultivate 1300 Hectares Of Valley Rice

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), under a French government-funded five-year Rice Sector Support Project (RSSP), is to cultivate 1,300 hectares of valleys to boost rice production in four districts in the Upper East Region.

The beneficiary districts are Garu-Tempane, Kassena-Nankana East, Builsa and the Bolgatanga municipality.

The Upper East Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of MoFA, Mr Thomas Ayamga, who made this known to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of the launch of a capacity-building workshop for stakeholders under the RSSP, said 29 valleys had so far been identified in the districts and were currently under studies by the University for Development Studies (UDS) to determine their suitability for rice production.

He indicated that the RSSP was an initiative of MoFA to increase the production, processing and marketing of rice, with an objective to improve the livelihoods of poor farmers in the targeted districts and also reduce the country’s rice import bill.

Launching the project at the Farmer Training Centre of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocese at Pusu-Namongo in the Talensi-Nabdam District on behalf of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Administrator, Mr Joseph Ayembilla said the farmer training centre was established to ensure improved food and livelihood security for poor households in the region.

He said it was against that background that the farmer training centre, in collaboration with MoFA, under the RSSP, sought to mobilise and facilitate the development of 1,625 producer-based and 813 processor-based and marketer-based organisations in the targeted districts.

He said the centre also aimed at facilitating farmers’ capacity to give them a voice in decision-making on issues affecting their well-being.

The Manager of the centre, Mr David Azupogo, said the centre, as an institution, focused on knowledge and experience-sharing among rural farmers, as well as training and field demonstrations on improved technology to farmers.

The workshop was attended by various stakeholders in the rice industry, including district directors of MoFA from the beneficiary districts, field officers, the Department of Co-operatives, the Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body (GRIP) and the Non-Formal Education Division of the Ghana Education Service.