GRIB launches Ghana Rice Festival 2022

The Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body (GRIB) has launched the Ghana Rice Festival 2022 to assemble stakeholders to discuss issues confronting the rice industry.

The Festival, to be held in Accra in November, this year, seeks to put “Eat Ghana Rice” back on the minds of Ghanaians to help develop the industry and ease pressure on the economy.

Nana Adjei Ayeh, the National President of GRIB, who spoke during the launch of the Festival at Botanga, a major rice growing area in the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region, reiterated the need for the citizenry to eat Ghana rice to save foreign exchange and save the Ghana cedi from depreciation.

As part of efforts to ensure more market for Ghana rice, GRIB was negotiating with the country’s security agencies to buy only the local rice to feed their personnel, he said, and expressed optimism that the arrangement would soon be finalised.

Nana Ayeh noted the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the supply of fertilizer and assured rice farmers that GRIB had secured substantial quantities of fertilizer to supply to interested farmers to ensure they continued to cultivate their fields.

“Remember that we are on a rescue mission to address the food insecurity situation, which is brought on by the Russia–Ukraine situation,” he said.

He assured the rice farmers at Botanga that GRIB was working to supply them with an additional combined harvester to improve their operations, especially in harvesting.

Madam Hawa Musah, the Northern Regional Director, Department of Agriculture, whose speech was read on her behalf, mentioned the various interventions being undertaken by the Government to increase rice production in the country and urged farmers to take advantage of them to boost yield.

Source: GNA