Botanga (N/R), May 31, GNA – The Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body (GRIB) has expressed its resolve to court the youth into farming, especially rice cultivation as a means of earning decent incomes, Mr Dennis Obeng Agyei, National Vice President of the body has said.
Mr Agyei, who himself is a young commercial rice farmer, said he was convinced that this would ensure sustainable food security in the country while halting rice importation.
He was speaking to the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the launch of the Ghana Rice Festival 2022 at Botanga, a major rice farming area in the Kumbungu District of the Northern region.
The Ghana Rice Festival 2022, being spearheaded by GRIB, would be held in Accra in November, this year where stakeholders would discuss amongst other issues confronting the country’s rice industry.
Mr Agyei debunked the notion that farming was a punishment, saying it was a business, and urged the youth to venture into rice farming, adding that apart from directly cultivating rice, there were various roles they could play along the rice value chain such as aggregating, milling amongst others, which were all lucrative.
He said in line with his mission, he was partnering some teacher and other unions to encourage their members to venture into rice production, adding “I am also in the process of writing to the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan and the National Youth Authority so that we all can come together to grow rice for sustainable food security so that we do not import rice again.”
He appealed to residents to explore the cultivation of rice in their backyards where possible, to increase production in the country.
GNA