North East: We'll establish rice mill, procure all local rice and process to feed schoolchildren – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has announced the Government's decision to establish an ultra-modern rice mill at Jadema in the Mamprugu Moaduri District of the North East Region.

He said the project, to be implemented by the Government of Ghana with support from the World Food Programme, would process over 30,000 metric tons of locally grown rice annually and create over 2,000 jobs with a focus on women and youth.

This, he said, would also reduce post-harvest losses and then anchor a local rice value chain that would reduce Ghana's imports dependence.

“When this rice mill is completed, I have asked the National Buffer Stock Company to procure all the rice that will be produced there. We will pay for it and buy it and supply it to our secondary schools to feed our children,” President Mahama said.

The President made the revelation, when he addressed the chiefs and people of the North East Region at Nalerigu, during his Thank You Tour of the Region.

President Mahama is embarking on the Thank You Tour across the country to express his gratitude to Ghanaians for their support for him and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the December 7, 2024, general election.

Prior to addressing the durbar, President Mahama had a closed door meeting the Overlord of the Mamprugu Traditional Area, Naa Bohagu Mahami Abdulai Sherigah II at his palace, in Nalerigu.

Speaking at the durbar ground, the President reiterated that agriculture was the backbone of development, and it should be so in the North East Region.

“But the future of agriculture lies not in subsistence farming. It lies in commercial production and agro-industrial transformation,” he stated.

The President said he had asked the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Exim Bank to continue and complete the Walewale Watermelon Factory and prepare for commissioning as soon as possible.

GNA