News Ghana

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has called on government, the private sector and development partners to urgently address quality and consistency gaps in locally produced rice, warning that without sustained investment, Ghanaian rice will continue to lose ground to cheaper imports despite strong output growth.

The call was made at a Breakfast Dialogue and Policy Discussion in Accra themed “Eat Ghana Rice Campaign: Promoting Ghana Rice Consumption for National Food Security and Economic Growth,” where stakeholders examined the structural barriers preventing local rice from capturing a larger share of consumer demand.

Sunil Dahiya, AGRA’s Senior Program Officer for Inclusive Markets and Trade, said production volumes alone would not close the competitiveness gap. “Quality and consistency are critical. We cannot deliver quality today and fail tomorrow,” he said, adding that every Ghanaian deserved access to quality food on a reliable basis.

Dahiya identified investments in modern processing equipment as a priority, alongside the need to scale up production to achieve economies of scale that could bring down unit costs. He said high production costs, reliance on imported machinery and labour-intensive practices were among the structural barriers limiting local farmers from pricing their rice at levels competitive with imported alternatives.

The price differential remains stark. Sewu Kwadzo Abortta, an Associate at Farmer Globale and a practising rice farmer, told the dialogue that with the right policy and financing support, local farmers could supply a 50 kilogram bag of rice at between GH¢300 and GH¢350, compared to imported rice currently selling for GH¢450 to GH¢500 for the same quantity. “Supporting farmers to improve their production strategies and yields will help local rice compete effectively with foreign rice,” he said.

Abortta called for subsidies on critical agricultural inputs including fertiliser, seeds and agrochemicals, and urged government to exempt imported agricultural machinery from taxation to reduce operational costs for farmers. He also pressed for land tenure security, recommending a minimum five-year guaranteed access period to encourage farmers to invest in land improvement rather than practice short-cycle farming that limits productivity.

The dialogue comes as Ghana’s rice sector sits at a paradoxical crossroads. Domestic paddy production has grown from roughly 302,000 metric tonnes in 2010 to nearly 987,000 metric tonnes in 2023, yet the country continues to import over one million metric tonnes annually to meet demand, spending more than GH¢3 billion each year on foreign rice. President John Dramani Mahama has directed all public schools and national security services to procure only Ghana-grown rice, maize, chicken and eggs, providing a guaranteed institutional market for local producers.

The Competitive African Rice Platform (CARP) Ghana this week launched a separate three-year project, backed by AGRA with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to strengthen market coordination and private sector engagement across the rice value chain. The project is designed to position CARP as the central coordinating platform for rice sector stakeholders nationwide.

Dahiya said effective branding and consumer education campaigns were equally essential to shifting purchasing habits, arguing that many Ghanaians still perceived local rice as inferior despite significant improvements in processing standards. Leading local brands now meet standards set by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), and are certified for quality, yet import preference persists in urban retail markets.

He expressed confidence that with coordinated investment across processing, branding, policy reform and partnerships, Ghana could build a competitive rice industry capable of reducing import dependence while supporting food security and rural economic growth.

Published Date: April 1, 2026