The experts established that even though all the regions had the potential to produce rice on a large scale, the Central Region was more endowed.
Ghana is receiving $9 million support from the Republic of Korea to develop a rice industry in the Central Region.
The choice of the region for the project followed a recommendation by some Korean rice experts that it had the potential to produce enough rice to feed the country and also for export.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto opened the fourth Ghana National Rice Festival in Accra recently, and stated that the experts had assessed the rice production potential in all the 10 regions of Ghana.
According to the minister, the experts established that even though all the regions had the potential to produce rice on a large scale, the Central Region was more endowed.
The President of Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body (GRIB), Mr Imoro Amoro, has appealed to the government to support the body to expand and establish Ghana Rice Business Centres to help create more employment in the country.
Dr Akoto stated that in the past few months, innovative efforts had been made to transform the entire agricultural sector into a vibrant and high-yielding sector to save the country from unnecessary importation and huge import bills.
He explained that the overall objective of the “Planting for Food and Jobs” by the government was to provide enough food to ensure “food and nutrition security in the country.”
