The Country Director of Korea International Corporation Agency (KOICA), Mr Moon Heon Kong, has lauded the Central Regional Minister, Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, for her immense contribution towards rice production in the Central Region
Since she became the Regional Minister, Mrs Assan has been committed to spearheading strategies to branding the Central Region as a destination for high quality locally produced rice.
As part of her strategies, she has been dedicated to sustaining the region’s drive for Rice Value Chain Improvement (RVCI) programme, which has led to the distribution of High-Quality grade rice seeds to rice farmers in the region.
Mr Moon Heon Kong commended Mrs Marigold Assan when ‘KOICA’ visited the Regional Coordinating Council to present about 2,500kg (2.5MT) of High-Quality rice seeds towards the region’s quest to bolster rice production.
The presentation of the high-quality seeds was in line with KOICA’s commitment to bolstering the Rice Value Chain Support Programme in the region with eight million dollars.
The $8 million KOICA intervention has immensely bolstered the production of high quality local rice production in the five catchment districts namely; Gomoa East, Twifo Atti-Morkwa, Assin Central, Assin North and Assin South. Mrs Assan noted that the Central Region was potentially blessed with arable land suitable for the mass production of high quality rice that could meet the country’s demand.
She, therefore, made a passionate appeal to the rice farmers in the region to be motivated saying “Undoubtedly, the region has the capacity and prospects to produce rice to meet local demand and for export and I encourage you all to support”.
Speaking about the economic viability of the programme, Mr Moon Heon Kong noted that “This is a progressive initiative that will eventually help preserve the country’s hard-earned forex, help create jobs with improved livelihoods around the value chain activities”.
The KOICA country director further said the initiative, which is known as “Central Region Movement for Planting One More Square Meter of Rice for the Next Generation” would significantly contribute to local economic development.
With regards to the importance of the local rice industry, he said, it would help to create jobs among the populace and significantly enhance “livelihoods around the value chain activities”.
The initiative, Mr Kong reiterated, would stabilise the local economy and reduce “the estimated USD500 million used to import rice into the Ghanaian market”.
Rice is one of the four main food crops under the current government’s flagship programme dubbed “Planting for Food and Jobs”. Government, therefore, intends to increase rice production through increased mechanisation and cultivation of lowlands (mainly inland valleys and flood plains).
Current production techniques, however, are more on extensification rather than intensification, in the face of changing climatic conditions. This is what has necessitated the need to design and disseminate effective strategies and technologies for the sustainable production of rice in the country.
