Accra: The leadership of rice producers and millers, maize farmers, and mechanization service providers across Ghana have resolved to boycott the 2025 Farmers' Day celebrations at the district, regional, and national levels. These groups also include input dealers, apex farmer associations, and agribusiness stakeholders.
According to Ghana News Agency, a statement issued in Accra by the Committee for the Promotion of Local Rice and Other Commodities highlighted the deep frustration of farmers over the ongoing crisis in Ghana's food production sector, particularly among rice, maize, and soya producers. Despite repeated government assurances, including a public statement from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture on September 23, 2025, promising to purchase all rice and maize through the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), farmers are still waiting for the promise to be fulfilled.
The statement emphasized that no action has been taken, leaving many producers unable to sell their harvests. Meanwhile, markets across the country are being inundated with cheap, expired, and smuggled imported rice, which is severely affecting Ghanaian farmers who cannot sell at competitive prices and are being driven into debt and bankruptcy.
As of last week, over 200,000 metric tons of paddy rice from the 2024 season remain unsold in warehouses across the Upper East, Northern, and North East regions. The National Rice Development data projects that Ghana's harvest for 2025 will reach 1.5 million metric tons, up from 1.3 million in 2024. Significant volumes have already been harvested: 300,000 Metric Tonnes in Upper East, 400,000 Metric Tonnes in North East, 300,000 Metric Tonnes in Northern, 50,000 Metric Tonnes in Savannah, 20,000 Metric Tonnes in Upper West, and 100,000 Metric Tonnes in Volta. However, all of this produce remains locked away without buyers.
Farmers are demanding the suspension of all foreign rice imports for six months and the tightening of border controls, effective November 2025. They also call for the development of a medium- to long-term importation strategy based on national production capacity, allowing only limited imports to cover shortfalls, and gradually phasing out imports altogether.
The statement further urged the government to mandate all public institutions such as schools, hospitals, prisons, and the security services to procure exclusively Ghana rice and maize from local farmers and millers. It also called for the Ministry of Finance to release substantial funding for NAFCO to purchase surplus maize and rice and reduce the glut, as well as introduce a guaranteed minimum price for rice and maize to protect farmers from exploitation.
The statement asserted that farmers, processors, traders, and all actors along Ghana's agricultural value chain are united in this call. "We will boycott the 2025 Farmers' Day celebrations at every level until these urgent demands are addressed," it stated.
The boycott is not an attack on the idea of honoring farmers but a firm and united statement against policies and practices that undermine farmers while their livelihoods collapse. The action is endorsed by the Association of Rice Producers and Millers, Chamber of Agribusiness, Association of Soya Value Chain Actors, Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), and Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen (GNAFF). Other supporters include the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), CropLife Ghana, Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body (GRIB), National Seed Trade Association of Ghana (NASTAG), Millers and Processors Associations, Traders and Market Women Associations, and Association of Parboiled Rice Millers.