FAO REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON RICE AND AQUACULTURE NATIONAL RICE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY - GHANA

1. FAO REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON RICE AND AQUACULTURENATIONAL RICE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY - GHANA KAMPALA, UGANDA (13 – 17 APRIL 2009)

2. INTRODUCTION Ghana 30% self-sufficient in rice production The per capita consumption : 38kg/person/year. Total rice demand (tons) : 600,000mt Range of Domestic production (tons) : 200,000-300,000 tons Agro-ecological Zones and Production Irrigated : 8% Lowland/Inland Valleys : 77% Upland : 15% Per Capita Production of rice : 20kg paddy/ 13kg milled

3. No. of Provinces/Region: 10 Northern Volta Upper East Ashanti Upper West Brong Ahafo Eastern Central Western Greater Accra 70% of Pdn 30% of Pdn

4. RICE PRODUCTION FIGURES FOR GHANA (1998 – 2006)

5. Status of Rice in National Policies MTADP & AAGDS • rice as important food security crop • Potential crop for foreign exchange FASDEP(I & II), GPRS (I & II) • Promote rice as production to address food security and poverty reduction FASDEP II • Reduce rice import by 30 per cent (local production increase to 370,000 mt/yr)

6. Specific Measures • Increased mechanization of rice production along the value chain • Increased area under cultivation and intensification in valleys and lowlands • Efficient utilizations of irrigation systems • Varietals improvement • Increased seed production and utilization

7. Rice Consumer Preferences Wide variation based on grain x’tics • Cleanliness • Uniformity and unbroken grains • Taste • Expansion capacity • Long grain and perfumed • Health consideration (brown rice, organic) • Parboiled (northern Ghana)

8. Per Capita Consumption • 1998 – 2001 17.5kg/person/year • 2002 – 2004 22.6kg/person/year • Current estimates 38.0kg/person/year • Per capita consumption growth rate – 8.9% per annum • Population growth rate 2.5% per annum

9. Demand Projections • Based on population and demand growth rates – 41.1kg/person/year by 2010 and 63.0kg/person/year by 2015 giving an aggregate demand of 1,680,000t/year • Based on only population growth rate – 600,000t/year by 2015

10. Typology and Percentage Proportion of Rice Farmers

11. Gender and the Rice Value Chain

12. Gender and the Rice Value Chain

13. Comparative advantage • Imported rice attracts 20% import levy • High grade rice - US$650/ton • Low grade rice - US$530/ton • Local rice - US$563/ton

14. Challenges and opportunities Land tenure - Challenges • Limited access and tenure security - small size of holding - low investment in land improvement • Land allocation bias against women

15. Challenges and opportunities Land tenure - opportunity • Large rain-fed lowlands and valleys available and suitable for rice production

16. Challenges and opportunities Socio-cultural issues – Challenges • Gender inequalities - limited access to land - limited access to credit Opportunity • Traditional rice festivals

17. Challenges and opportunities Transboundary/regional issues Opportunities – Free movement of goods and services • Improved sub-regional rice trade • Exchange of market information • Exchange of research information • Easy exchange of seeds • Challenges – phytosanitary problems

18. Challenges and opportunities Local Rice for Poverty Reduction and Economic Growth Opportunities • Income generation • Employment creation

19. Challenges and Opportunities Lessons from previous R&D activities RELCs – provide opportunity for integrating farmers concerns and knowledge into future R & D activities PADS and PLAR – provides opportunity for including farmers and extension agents in technology adaptation Challenge – inadequate funding for research

20. Challenges and oportunities Human and institutional capacities Challenges – Inadequate staff (research, technicians and extensionists) - Inadequate equipment for both research and extension

21. Priority Areas and Approach

22. Priority Areas and Approach

23. Priority Areas Policies and institutional opportunities • Adoption of value chain approach to agriculture development • Building capacity to meet challenges of quality standards for international markets • Scaling-up of land and water management practices • Building strong public/private partnerships • Building strong FBOs • Improving support to commercial ventures

24. Vision and scope Goal – contribute to food security, income generation and poverty reduction Objectives • To reduce rice import by 50% by 2018 • To promote consumption of local rice • To develop capacity for utilization of rice by-products

25. Production Targets in the Rice Ecologies

26. Human Capacity Targets for the Rice Sector

27. Governance of NRDS National Rice Committee Development Partners Rep. MoFA National Rice Task Force – (Technical) Upland Group Lowland Group Irrigated Group

28. Commitment of GoG • Financial – allocation of 10% annual budget to agriculture sector • Payment of salaries and allowances of staff • Tax exemptions on imports for strategy implementation

29. National and international stakeholders • Ministry of Food Agriculture • Ghanaian Universities Institutions • National Research Institutions • Private sector operators • NGOs and CBOs • International Research institutions (WARDA, IRRI CIRAD, CORAF, FARA, ETC.)

30. Key Interventions • Development of water control structures • Integrated soil fertility management • Rice varietal improvement and seed supply • Post-harvest handling • Value addition • Technology development and dissemination • Provision of micro-finance • Developing rice information system • Mainstreaming gender and environmental cons.

31. Strategies - Projections for Seed Requirement

32. Strategies - Projections for Fertilizer Requirement

33. Post- Harvest and Marketing Strategy • use of appropriate harvesting and threshing facilities (small–medium scale harvesters and threshers). • Establishment of national minimum standards by providing standard rice mills (equipped with pre-cleaners, destoner, hullers, polishers, paddy separators, aspirators, and graders). • Brown rice and parboiled rice production will be promoted to enhance the nutritional status of rural and urban consumers. • branding and packaging, retailing in supermarkets and organisation of food bazaars to promote local rice. • establish warehouses for milled rice at central locations of major producing and consumption areas, • sustain rice marketing credit lines, • build capacity of marketers and processors

34. Irrigation and Water Control Investment Strategy • To expand rice production under irrigation, existing schemes will be rehabilitated while new gravity-controlled schemes will be developed. In the rain fed lowlands, communities will be mobilized to participate in the development of simple and low cost water control structures (dykes, bunding, catchment areas protection, drainage) for improved rice production. Farmers will be trained in the operation and maintenance of schemes. Water measuring devices for improved water usage under irrigation will be provided. • Logistic Requirements for Irrigation and Water Control Investment Strategies • It is intended to develop the skills of technicians to mobilize farmers to participate in the development of water control structures and to attract communities’ willingness to maintain these structures.

35. Equipment Access and Maintenance Strategy • To ensure easy and timely access to improved agricultural equipment, the government in the short term will facilitate the supply of power tillers and accessories, water pumps, tractors and accessories, transplanters and seed drills. In the long term however, the government will encourage the private sector to play a greater role including public-private partnership ventures. Government and the private sector will empower communities in accessing and use of equipment for maintenance of irrigation systems (cleaning and desilting of canals and drains, e.t.c).

36. Research and Technology Dissemination Strategy • Development and dissemination of improved varieties to farmers. At the farm level, the • Enhance capacity of farmers to ensure adaptation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) for rice cultivation. • Adaptation and fabrication of equipment for small and medium scale operators along the value chain. • Training manuals, videos, fact sheets and posters on the rice value chain will be developed and disseminated. • Conduct studies into land suitability, land use and delineation for rice-based cropping.

37. Communities Mobilization, Farmer Based Organizations and Credit Management Strategy • key actors (small holder producers, processors, traders) are mobilized and animated into cohesive and well functioning groups. • Empower identifiable groups through training, linkage to credit sources and easy access to inputs and equipment.

38. Conclusion • Both expansion in under cultivation and intensification are crucial to meeting Ghana’s future rice demands • The approach for development will adopt the value chain approach to commodity development • Strategies and activities will be take into consideration the dynamics of the sector within the West Africa sub-region