The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has proposed effective measures as part of efforts to boost the consumption of made in Ghana rice.
According to the Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, government policies are already in place to ensure none of the over 600 Senior High Schools (SHS) in Ghana deals with foreign rice likewise the caterers under the School Feeding programme.
“We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Gender Ministry and the Education Ministry where Ghana Education Service supplies local rice, maize and beans to the SHSs and you dare not use foreign rice,” he said.
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Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Kennedy Osei Nyarko reiterated government was committed to local rice production, consumption and processing.
“I believe we can go beyond the schools and focus on the hospitals and all state institutions including our prisons and ensure nobody buys foreign rice then we proceed to our hotels. Other countries have done it and we can do better,” he urged.
Mr Nyarko cited Nigeria which continues to insist on clamping down on all rice importation channels with citizens left with no option than to eat what he describes as the low-quality local rice.
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He reiterated government’s ambitious target to ban the importation of rice by 2022 to boost local rice production to grow the economy.