AVEYIME CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE (JUNE 17, 2009)

FOR a country such as Ghana to succeed, there is no doubt that it has to be self-sufficient in food production.
Since Ghana’s independence, successive governments have taken steps to ensure food sufficiency but without very impressive results.
Efforts by the First Republic to create a strong agricultural base for the country’s industrialisation programme suffered a jolt as a result of both external and internal factors. The Operation Feed Yourself (OFY) programme initiated in the 1970s to achieve food sufficiency for the country was also short-lived.
Today, we continue to depend heavily on imported food items for our survival. The country’s rice import bill alone is in the region of $500 million because for more than 10 years local rice production has remained at 150,000 metric tonnes annually.
The huge food import bill has eaten deep into the country’s foreign exchange reserves and negatively affected our balance of payments. The recent global food and energy price hikes, as well as the credit squeeze, exposed the weaknesses in the economies of nations that are unable to feed their people.
In spite of the challenges, all is not lost yet. The good news in the horizon is that the Aveyime Rice Project in the Volta Region which has stalled for almost a decade has bounced back to life and is set to introduce good quality home-grown rice on the Ghanaian market next month.
The project, which offers employment opportunities to the people in the Aveyime area, is expected to produce 140 tonnes of milled rice this year. Although the current production level of the project is not substantial, the future of the project is very promising.
We would like to encourage the managers of the Aveyime Rice Project to increase production and sustain the business, despite the stiff competition they are likely to face from rice imports.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to create the enabling environment for the project to thrive and become a model in the sub-region. Already, the market for the staple exists and local rice is catching on well with many consumers.
We further urge the government to use the project as a growth pole and encourage the managers to begin the transfer of appropriate technology, skills and capacity to small-holder rice farmers in other parts of the country to boost rice production. It will be a catalyst for economic growth and social development.
The benefits of increased rice production to the nation are enormous.
But while we all revel in the success story of the project, the DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the project managers to pay attention to the needs of the people in the area.
Through the sacrifices of the people, the government was able to acquire the large tract of land for the project. Elsewhere, their heritage would have been converted into equity so that the success of the project will inure to the benefit of all the people who sacrificed their lands for rice production.
If this is not done, the success of the project will only reflect in the lifestyles of the project managers, their shareholders and workers, while the landowners will wallow in abject poverty.
Whatever the challenges that lie ahead of the project, the DAILY GRAPHIC thinks the modest gains chalked up by the company are worth celebrating.