Accra: The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has proposed the creation of a Rice Development Board to facilitate targeted government support for the rice production sector. The Board would oversee interventions such as irrigation infrastructure, mechanisation, and provision of certified seeds and fertilisers to farmers.

According to Ghana News Agency, the think-tank emphasized that the government must move beyond enabling policies and take a more active role in resolving challenges facing Ghana’s rice industry. The recommendation was contained in IFS’s latest study titled ‘Increasing Importation of Rice in Ghana: Can the Country Transform its Fortunes in the Rice Sector?’

Presenting the study, Dr Said Boakye, Acting Executive Director of IFS, highlighted that the government could no longer depend on the private sector to address the challenges in rice production. ‘The board should be tasked to provide technical support and facilitation to private sector actors in the locally produced rice distribution and marketing chain in both domestic and international markets. If necessary, the board may directly get involved in the purchasing, distribution, and marketing of domestically produced rice,’ he said.

Rice is currently one of 22 priority commodity value chains under the government’s flagship ‘Feed Ghana’ programme, aimed at boosting productivity, reducing imports, increasing exports, and improving food security and nutrition. The study urged the government to set an ambitious target of becoming a net exporter of rice in the medium term. ‘Ghana has the potential to devote an estimated 5.9 million hectares of fertile land to rice production, given that at present Ghana has a total of 12.6 million hectares of agricultural land,’ Dr Boakye noted.

Other recommendations included land access through purchase and redistribution, youth mobilisation into rice farming, and incentives for private sector participation. Madam Mariana Madeira, Ambassador of Brazil to Ghana, expressed her country’s commitment to supporting Ghana’s efforts to expand its rice capacity, noting that Brazilian nationals engaged in large-scale rice cultivation in Ghana were ready to share expertise and best practices with local farmers.

Professor Gabriel Nii Noi Dowuona, a soil scientist at the University of Ghana, called for deliberate policy measures to shift consumer preference from imported rice and promote local consumption.