By Edward Acquah, GNA
Accra, Oct. 8, GNA – The African Development Bank (AfDB) has provided $18.8 million grant to Ghana to support the development of the rice value chain and help the country achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2028.
The grant is being implemented through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), under the Regional West Africa Resilient Rice Value Chains (REWARD) Project, a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency said on Thursday.
The project would develop 3,200 hectares of land for production of the staple crop in the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone, support seed centres with cleaning equipment, provide quality seed and mechanisation, and help increase yields from 3.5 to 4.5 metric tonnes per hectare.
It would also supply farm machinery, including rice transplanters, seed drills, rotary tillers, mini combine harvesters and boom sprayers, the statement said.
It said 10 strategically located rice processing centres would be equipped with complementary processing equipment.
The project would provide hermetic storage facilities to reduce post-harvest losses and link farmers to markets and private-sector actors.
“It is expected to directly benefit more than 20,000 smallholder farmers in selected districts, including Tamale Metropolitan, Mion, Savelugu, East Mamprusi, West Gonja, Bole, Wa Municipal, Sissala East, and Nandom,” it said.
Mr Eric Opoku, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, said Ghana’s milled rice production increased from about 650,000 tonnes in 2024 to 960,000 tonnes in 2025, but local production met only about 56 per cent of national demand.
He said Ghana spent approximately $500 million annually on rice imports, adding that the country was targeting 3.31 million metric tonnes of paddy production to achieve self-sufficiency by 2028.
“REWARD is Feed Ghana in Action for Rice,” he said, describing the project as a deliberate intervention to increase local production and reduce the national rice import bill.
The Minister said the project would be formally launched in the first week of November 2026 after which preparations would begin for the 2027 production season.
The Ministry also announced a $2.5 million grant from Japan to provide equipment to strengthen rice seed production, with the equipment expected to arrive in November.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Edward Acquah
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