Small Scale Rice Dealers Association of Ghana (SSRIDA) have told Citi Business News moves to totally ban the importation of rice will create a huge shortfall of the grain.
Government over the years has been pushing for a total ban on rice imports as part of moves to boost local production and also ease pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
According to the President of SSRIDA, Yaw Koran “this will not help the economy, it will rather lead to price hikes due to the gap that would be created when the ban is put in place.”
‘as local rice producers we are looking forward to the day when Ghana would be self sufficient to emulate the example of Nigeria by banning all imports of rice but as we speak we are not self sufficient’.
Though rice production in the country is a little over 500, 000 tonnes per year, the country consumes about 1.8 million tonnes per year.
Speaking to Citi Business News, Yaw Koran said if the directive is enforced there will be a huge gap which will bring about price hikes.
“Rice is not the only commodity that is imported into the country, so if we want to ban then we should ban other commodities as well. But we should also not lose sight of the fact that the ban will increase the level of unemployment and also reduce supply which will result in price of rice going up.”
By: Norvan Acquah – Hayford/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Rice dealers kick against rice ban
