The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has recommended the creation of a Rice Development Board (RDB) to lead government initiatives aimed at revitalizing Ghana’s rice industry and decreasing the nation’s reliance on rice imports.
In a presentation of the findings from the IFS Occasional Paper No. 28, titled “Increasing Importation of Rice in Ghana: Can the Country Transform Its Fortunes in the Rice Sector?”, Dr. Said Boakye, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute, highlighted that Ghana’s excessive dependence on the private sector has led to ongoing market failures, hindering domestic rice production.
“Unlike Vietnam and Thailand, where governments actively engage in their rice sectors, Ghana has limited itself to merely establishing a conducive environment while anticipating the private sector to resolve systemic challenges. This strategy has proven ineffective,” Dr. Boakye remarked.
He elaborated that the proposed Rice Development Board would oversee all governmental efforts within the rice value chain, encompassing seed production, processing, and marketing. The IFS asserts that the Board must be sufficiently funded and legally constituted to guarantee policy consistency despite governmental transitions.
Dr. Boakye pointed out that the new Board would be tasked with fostering local fertilizer production to satisfy farmers’ requirements at reasonable prices, supplying certified high-yield rice seeds, enhancing irrigation infrastructure across Ghana’s 1.9 million hectares of land suitable for irrigated rice farming, and promoting the mechanization of rice cultivation practices. He further mentioned that the Board could also facilitate private-sector involvement in rice marketing, especially for export.
The IFS has further suggested that the Rice Development Board spearhead efforts to acquire and redistribute land for rice cultivation in order to tackle the enduring issues associated with the nation’s traditional land tenure system. Dr. Boakye additionally recommended that the Board take the initiative in engaging the youth in rice farming through credit-based support programs.
He emphasized that with robust institutional support and focused investment, Ghana has the potential to emerge as a significant net exporter of rice, capitalizing on the increasing global demand anticipated to rise from US$387.84 billion in 2025 to US$449.61 billion by 2030. “Had Ghana produced merely 7.4 million metric tons of rice in 2022, the nation could have exported over six million tons — a volume that generated US$3.2 billion for Vietnam that year,” he stated.
The IFS is of the opinion that the establishment of the Rice Development Board would not only mitigate the escalating rice import costs but also generate employment, improve food security, and bolster the cedi by decreasing foreign exchange outflows.
