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Government ought to promote local rice consumption – retailers


  18 Avril      34        Politique (25166),

 

Akyem Asene (E/R), April 18, GNA – Rice sellers in the Asene Manso Akroso District of the Eastern Region have expressed dissatisfaction about low patronage of locally produced rice and have called on Government to take deliberate action to promote its consumption.

Scores of rice sellers, mostly retailers, who spoke with the Ghana News Agency in a market survey about the patronage of locally produced rice, said though the government was already encouraging people to buy locally manufactured goods, it must do more on the promotion of local rice consumption.

The move would help make the “Ghana Beyond Aid” reality as it would create more employment opportunities in the country’s rice production value chain and also guarantee food security, the retailers said.

In 2019, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo unveiled the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda aimed at building a prosperous and a self-reliant nation to improve the living conditions of the people.

Mrs Vida Adu, a shopkeeper at Akyem Asene, noted that customers preferred buying imported rice to local rice, which she blamed on unattractive packaging and challenges during milling.

She said many consumers have the perception that locally milled rice usually contained gritstones and unwanted particles as well as had a limited aroma.

However, Madam Linda Okyere, a local rice peddler, who pegged her daily average sales at about 50 cups, said her rice was mostly patronised by public sector workers such as teachers and healthcare workers like nurses.

The reason, she explained was that most government workers believed the locally produced Ghana rice contained higher nutritional value and also was of better quality than imported rice.

Madam Naana Afua Gyem, a mother of three, said « I have been making preferences for local rice to imported rice since 2009, and currently with the help of rice destoner machine at Akyem Manso, local rice in the district stands the best among many brands of imported rice on the market ».

The hassle of having to remove unwanted particles in local rice manually, she said, was the major reason why it was not highly patronised by many consumers.

Economist say the rice imports quantity of Ghana increased from 24 thousand tonnes in 1971 to 950 thousand tonnes in 2020, growing at an average annual rate of 12.52 per cent.

The rice sellers, therefore, recommended that the agriculture departments in the various assemblies should roll out a public education drive on the quality and high nutritional value of local rice to encourage its patronage and consumption.

Efforts should also be made to acquire or, at least, subsidise modern rice milling machines for producers to help meet international standards milling.

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