NAFCO funding gap threatens rice production – Farmers tell gov’t
By Stephen Freeman
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana is calling on the government to urgently release additional funds to the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) to enable it to purchase surplus rice from local producers.
According to the Association, inadequate funding for NAFCO has left many farmers unable to sell their produce, forcing them to slash prices and incur heavy financial losses.
Speaking in reaction to reports of a rice glut, Acting Executive Director of the Association, Bismark Nortey, said NAFCO has received less than 10 per cent of the funds it requested to undertake its procurement activities, leaving large quantities of paddy rice unsold across the country.
“There are still rice farmers struggling to find buyers because NAFCO does not have the financial capacity to absorb all the rice in the system. Many farmers are not getting buyers because NAFCO cannot purchase all the rice available,” he explained.
Mr Nortey warned that if the issue persists, many farmers may abandon rice cultivation in the next planting season due to uncertainty over market access and poor returns.
“If this situation continues, many farmers will stop producing rice because they know their investments could go to waste. We are calling on the government and the President to urgently allocate more resources to NAFCO. The current funding is woefully inadequate,” he appealed.
The Association fears that without swift government intervention, the country’s progress towards rice self-sufficiency could be undermined, affecting both farmer livelihoods and national food security.
