Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has announced plans to establish four rice development hubs across Ghana, targeting the creation of about 125,000 jobs and an expansion of local rice production.
The hubs will be established in the Afram Plains, the Volta Basin, Western Ghana and Northern Ghana, with production organised around irrigation, mechanisation, storage, processing, packaging and logistics.
Presenting the 2027 Budget Statement to Parliament on Thursday, November 12, Dr Ato Forson said the initiative would bring an additional 100,000 hectares of land under rice cultivation.
He said the government was targeting yields of between five and six metric tonnes per hectare as part of efforts to strengthen domestic production and reduce the country’s reliance on imported rice.
The incentives, he said, were intended to reduce investment costs, minimise post-harvest losses and make locally produced rice more competitive.
Dr Ato Forson also announced plans to amend public procurement laws to require public institutions, including schools and hospitals, to purchase locally grown foodstuffs using public funds.
He said the policy would guarantee farmers a reliable market while ensuring that government spending supports domestic production and job creation.
“The principle is simple. The money of the Ghanaian people must create opportunities for the Ghanaian people,” he told Parliament.
“If you spend their money to put rice on the table, that rice must come from their farms,” he added.
The Finance Minister said the policy would ensure that public spending benefits both consumers and local farmers, reinforcing the government’s efforts to expand Ghana’s agricultural production and strengthen the domestic rice value chain.
