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The importation of rice is a heavy drain on the country’s foreign earnings
The importation of rice is a heavy drain on the country’s foreign earnings

Causes and effects of rice import deluge

Ghana is presently experiencing phenomenal rice imports to meet the rapidly growing demand, particularly in its bustling cities. The total annual import of milled rice at the end of 2016 stood at 558,000 tonnes on the order of US$500 million.

It is not difficult to appreciate the burden of the heavy rice imports on Ghana’s economy as you shop along the commercial city streets decked with a panorama of colourfully packaged and predominantly luxury rices (e.g. aromatic and long grain rice) from many South-East Asian countries.

The present status of rice as a major food was predicted by the West African Rice Development Association (WARDA) in the 1970s, that rice demand would grow rapidly based on the following factors:

• Increasing population and per capita demand rate;

• Rapid rural-urban drift;

• Dietary shift from coarse grains (e.g. maize) to fine grains (e.g. rice) as a sign of enhanced welfare and social class;

• The excellent storability of rice as compared to some of the local traditional foods;

• The convenience of serving rice as fast food at dinners, funerals, weddings and institutional feeding.
Aside from the above, the situation has been exacerbated by the following factors:

• Ghana’s trade liberalisation policy under its Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) and Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in the 1990s;

• The persistent constraints in the local production sector are continuously expressed in low rice self-sufficiency levels (i.e. 30-40 per cent) spanning over three decades.

Ghana’s rice self sufficiency

Rice self sufficiency represents the percentage of the annual rice demand that is locally produced. On the basis of the annual per capita rice consumption rate of 32kg and an estimated population of 27 million, the total annual demand of polished rice stands at 864,000 mt, which includes both the imports and the local supply.

The conversion of the latter to paddy, based on the average national yield of 2.6 (tonnes per hectare) t/ha and milling recovery of 55 per cent translates into 1.7 million tonnes of paddy, which will require a total of 604,196 hectares rice area to produce. The present rice area, 216, 000 ha thus represents 33 per cent rice self sufficiency.

For Ghana to achieve 100 per cent rice self-sufficiency, an additional 400,000 ha (approx.) rice area must be developed. It is also worthy of note that the present rice area has been achieved over a period of six decades with several government interventions, indicating that the road map to rice self sufficiency in Ghana is daunting, considering also the fact that the major factors which drive the demand (i.e. population growth rate and the per capita consumption rate) are not static.

Linked to the low self-sufficiency are major constraints (including production, processing and marketing), which affect the expansion of the rice industry and these are discussed hereunder.

Average paddy yield (t/ha.)

The national average paddy yield of 2.6t/ha is essentially controlled by the Rainfed Lowland Hydromorphic ecology (2.5t/ha), which constitutes 75 per cent of the rice area in Ghana.

The irrigated ecology which is, however, the most technically advanced production system with the highest national average yield (4.5t/ha) accounts for only about 5 per cent of the rice area and, therefore, does not impact strongly on the national average yield.

The key to increasing rice output in Ghana, therefore, lies essentially in improving the production system of the Rainfed Lowland Hydromorphic ecology. 

Rice crops per year 

(cropping intensity)

Two rice crops in a year (i.e. 200 per cent cropping intensity) will hasten Ghana’s desire to achieve rice self-sufficiency. However, this is not achievable for many reasons. The ecologies which are rain-dependent, that is (1) Rainfed Upland and (2) the Rainfed Lowland Hydromorphic ecology, cannot risk a second rice crop because of uncertainties in the rainfall.

Furthermore, the 75 per cent of the rice area which is mostly found in northern Ghana is subject to one long rainy season (mono-modal pattern) that imposes one crop per year on production.

The irrigated ecology on the other hand, which has control over the most important production factor, water, is only able to achieve an average of 150 per cent cropping intensity for myriads of reasons.

The best opportunities to increase rice output in Ghana occur in the Rainfed Lowland Hydromorphic ecology through: (1) increased national average yield from 2.5t/ha to 3.5t/ha; (2) rapid rice area expansion programme; (3) improved water management systems, and (4) the possibility of ratooning.

Improved varieties

Presently, there is dearth of improved varieties for the three major production ecologies. The improved varieties should answer the following needs: (1) must be high yielding; (2) must be tolerant to a wide spectrum of pests and diseases and; (3) must meet the rapidly changing consumer preferences.

Between 1970 and 1990, Ghana’s National Agriculture Research System (NARS) benefited immensely from hundreds of germ plasm donations for collaborated trials initiated by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI, Philippines) and WARDA (Benin) in the following programmes: WARDA Coordinated Trials, the International Network for Genetic Evaluation in Rice (INGER) and the International Rice Testing Programme (IRTP).

These programmes generated several promising lines which were never released for commercial production. It will be expedient for NARS to request from the Gene Centres of the International Research Institutes, (i.e. IRRI, IITA, WARDA) some of the known and the latest promising nurseries for further testing and release to farmers as the quickest way of achieving the national goals. 

Fragrant rice

Fragrant rice is currently a fad in Ghana as a result of importation of luxury aromatic rice from South-East Asia. Local farmers cannot wait on researchers to also enjoy the good marketability and the high premium prices of fragrant rice on the market today. Many of our rice farmers, particularly those on the irrigation projects, switched to the cultivation of fragrant rice (e.g. Jasmine 85, Togo Marshall, Pusa Basmati, KRC Baika etc) from their own collections without the assistance of research scientists in most cases. The humid tropics, however, are not the ideal environments to cultivate fragrant rice because the aromatic essence volatilises profusely under the prevailing high temperature conditions, leaving the rice only mildly fragrant. Researchers will need to come to the aid of the aromatic rice farmers to help them achieve the best out of their efforts. 

Grain quality

Grain quality issues are important for the development of the industry as they affect the marketability of the local product in the face of stiff competition with some high-quality rice imports. When rice is harvested at the optimum time and processed, it mills with high per cent head rice (i.e. whole grains), appear white, translucent, sparkling and very attractive.

To meet the international standards on the other hand, the product must be graded and should be devoid of extraneous materials (i.e. undehusked grains, stones, red rice, weed seeds etc), and the variety in question should be of high purity (i.e. over 95 per cent). In the past three decades, about 70 per cent of the local product could not meet the international standards due to either lack of knowledge or the absence of the appropriate equipment.

The situation has since changed for the better. Consumer grain preferences include the following features: Length (medium-long grain), whole grains (i.e. 75 per cent - 95 per cent), high swelling and flaky upon cooking remaining in soft gel condition upon cooling.

Long storage (i.e. minimum three – four months) also improves the cooking qualities (i.e. flakiness and swelling characteristics) of non-waxy rices but our local farmers could ill afford the storage time. Local rice therefore enters the market with higher grain moisture content (i.e. eight-12 per cent) than that of imports (i.e.five per cent or less), due to short storage resulting in poor cooking qualities compared to imports.

Import effects

The importation of high-quality and well-packaged rice products has compelled local farmers to be quality conscious in order to be competitive. The farmers now endeavour to seek the services of modern mills with high recovery rates (60-65 per cent) and also with grading and destoning facilities to enable them to reach the niche market for higher income.

Processors, on the other hand, have responded to the market demands and are now importing high-grade mills. Ghana Rice Inter Professional Body (GRIB) for example has introduced ultramodern colour sorter equipment into the industry, which improves the uniformity and aesthetics of the milled grains. The huge rice imports, however, are a big drain on the country’s foreign earnings.
Again consumers, who used to relish the US No.5 non-aromatic rice brand, now spend fortunes on Thai luxury fragrant rices for sheer fragrance, which could be easily created with kitchen condiments.

Conclusion

Aside from its heavy drain on Ghana’s scant foreign earnings, one positive aspect of the imports is that it has compelled the local producers to expand their farms and improve product quality. On the other hand, governments also realise the urgency to raise the production above the present low 33 per cent self sufficiency. The enormity of the task to achieve 100 per cent self sufficiency as often demanded by many consumers is clearly indicated.



Writer’s e-mail: [email protected]

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