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Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body Elects New Executives
The Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body (GRIB) has elected new executives to steer the affairs of the association over the next three years.
The election was held during GRIB’s national value chain engagement session and annual general meeting in Accra, facilitated by the John A. Kufuor Foundation.
The association which’s membership includes rice farmers, aggregators, marketers, and consumers, works to promote the Ghana rice industry. “Our mandate is to promote local rice which we call the Ghana Rice,” Nana Kwabena Adjei Ayeh II who is current president of the association explained during the meeting.
Nana Ayeh was re-elected unopposed after winning the votes of members from across all 16 regions cast in the presidential election. Mr. Dennis Obeng Adjei was elected Vice President, whiles Mr. David Yaw Mensah was elected as GRIB’s Financial Secretary in the polls which was supervised by the Electoral Commission. Sylvia Tamakloe and Mahama Bukari were also elected as executives.
The foundation has helped organize more than 93,000 smallholder farmers and other rice value chain actors across the country at the district, regional and national levels. They have since been offered inputs, extension services, mechanization, training and market access.
The support of the foundation is part of a project funded by the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to strengthen the rice value chain. It is known as the “Public-Private Partnership for Competitive and Inclusive Rice Value Chain Development: Planting for Food and Jobs – Rice Chapter” project.
Nana Ayeh called on government to get commercial banks to reduce the interest on borrowing to 10% for rice farmers across the country. Currently, the rate is between 26 and 32% per annum.
He says this rate is too high and frightening for rice farmers who are badly in need of loans to expand their businesses and upgrade farming infrastructure. He says rice deserves special attention because of its unique role in Ghana’s food value chain.
“Soft loans can help boost our farms’ value, make our business more efficient, and improve our products,” Nana Ayeh observed.
“Rice is one of the staple foods in Ghana and is used to prepare different kind of dishes. It is usually the dominant food on the menu of most restaurants and roadside eateries in the county,” he emphasized.