GHANA – The Ghana General Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) has raised concerns about the detrimental impact of illegal rice imports on the local rice industry in the country.
Mr. Edward Kareweh, the General Secretary of GAWU, highlighted that their market assessments and investigations in border communities revealed the presence of rice brands sourced from neighbouring countries such as Togo, Cote D’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso.
According to him, these illegally imported rice products are being sold at prices 20 to 30 percent cheaper than locally produced rice, posing a serious threat to the local industry’s viability.
The situation, he cautioned, would collapse the local rice industry as local rice producers were unable to compete successfully.
“For those in the northern part of the country, much of their rice imports are now coming from Burkina Faso and Togo, and that is how it has flooded the system.”
Despite official figures indicating a decline in rice imports over the past three years, the union argues that this decrease does not reflect the reality on the ground due to significant amounts of foreign rice being smuggled through unapproved routes.
Mr. Kareweh, further, expressed concerns that farmers in the northern region are facing challenges in selling their harvested rice, with reports of rice mills considering shutdowns due to a lack of market demand.
He attributes the problem to government systems failing to address the challenges faced by local rice producers.
The decry comes after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo told Parliament last Tuesday that between 2021 and 2023, rice imports fell by about 45 per cent.
According to country data, in 2021, rice imports amounted to 805,000 metric tonnes; in 2022 650,000MT; and, in 2023, 440,000MT, the President said in the State of the Nation Address.
However, for GAWU, the data does not reflect on the ground, urging the government to conduct an extensive evaluation of the various rice brands on the market to determine which ones were imported through authorised channels to understand the scope of the problem and take appropriate action.
Mr Kareweh said illegal rice importation was a result of government systems failing to address the challenges affecting local rice producers.
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