IMPOSE HIGHER TARIFFS ON IMPORTED RICE...Peasant farmers (PAGE 30. DEC 24)

Peasant farmers have called on the Government to impose high tariffs on rice imports in order to encourage local production, generate employment and save foreign exchange.
They were of the view that the country’s continuous overreliance on imported rice could create a balance of trade deficit and affect the economic fortunes of the country in future.
The National President of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Mr Adam Nashiru, who made the appeal on behalf the farmers, said that although the Government of Ghana had supported rice production by providing inputs to rice growers to increase their yields, local rice production still faced serious challenges.
Welcoming participants to a stakeholders’ conference on rice value chain in Accra, Mr Nashiru said the Government and donor partners, such as Agence Francaise De Development (AFAD) and the Japanese Agency for International Co-operation (JICA), had contributed substantially towards local rice production.
As a result of such support, he said rice production was expected to increase by 20 per cent over the previous year’s production.
In spite of the support, Mr Nashiru said the rice sector faced challenges which needed to be addressed, otherwise all the support and efforts would be in vain.
In a presentation, Mr Ibrahim Akabila, the National Co-ordinator of the Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition, explained that tariffs were a policy tool employed to protect domestic industries by placing competitive imports at a disadvantaged position on the market.
Mr Akabila said over the last two decades, the Government designed policies to get the sector working without much success, but tariffs served as the best opportunity for Ghana to mobilise funds for investment in local rice production.
For his part, the Project Manager of Technoserve, Mr Baba Adongo, said rice was an important diet for many Ghanaians and, therefore, stressed a need for the Government to come up with a policy that would improve local rice production and industry.