Rice Sector Support Project

Rice Sector Support Project.

This project is implemented by Ministry Of Food and Agriculture in collaboration with Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) of France.

The project is in line with MOFA’s strategy to facilitate the production of food crops to attain food self-sufficiency, output processing and marketing systems. Rice has been expressly identified in the Food and Agricultural Sector Development Policy (FASDEP) as an important food crop that should be given special attention for food self-sufficiency.

The project will support lowland rice production of up to 6,000 hectares in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West Regions and northern parts of the Volta Region of Ghana. By the project completion date a total of 16,250 metric tons of milled rice would be produced annually to add to the existing production.

The overall objective of the project is to improve livelihood of poor farmers in the targeted regions through the development of a sustainable economic activity based on the natural potential of the region.

The project has three complementary main objectives;

To support the rice value chain in the northern part of Ghana through four linked and complementary key actions:
- land development based on the reclamation of 75 valley bottoms
- facilitation of access to credit for the stakeholders involved in the rice value chain and institutional capacity development in credit service delivery
- capacity building for the stakeholders through support to FBOs and Apex organisations;
- adapted research experiments on rice production, processing technologies and farming systems;

To further enhance the national organization of the rice sector by providing support to the Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body( GRIB);

To implement applied research activities in order to define adapted cropping systems fitting the natural conditions of northern Ghana and the farmers’ social and economic situations.

· 2,500 farm families (or 15,000 people) will be involved at the production level

· 1,000 players or 5,000 people to be involved in transformation/processing and marketing aspects

· Farmers having ownership of lowlands

· Communities involved in former projects (Low land Rice Development Project (LRDP) & Food Security and Rice Producers Organization Project (FSRPOP))

· Processors dealing with rice production in other areas

· Rice brokers operating in northern Ghana

· Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body (GRIB)

Support to Farmers & rice processors

· Farmers having ownership of lowlands that require development

· Site selection takes into account availability and suitability of land for rice production, availability of water, land use and ownership or tenure situation, willingness of farmers and community to participate.

· Lowlands to be assessed through local stakeholder (farmers, chiefs and land owners, DADUs and District Assemblies) participatory methodologies.

· Support to farmers in land development, capacity building, literacy classes, and extension services.

· Technical support for rice processing

Support to GHANA RICE INTER-PROFESSIONAL BODY

Sustaining GRIB activities including:

· Advocacy on national rice production and consumption

· Conduct of surveys and studies on the rice sector

· Access to colour sorter managed by GRIB

Components for project implementation

General management of project and co-ordination of activities: