Ghana Reiterates Rice Self-Sufficiency Target at Rising Rice Fair 2025

From 20 to 23 December 2025, Accra held the Ghana Rice Rising Fair organized by Ghana’s Chamber of Agribusiness, in partnership with the Ministry of Agribusiness. The event is supported by the Ghana Commodity Exchange and the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation.

According to official statistics, rice consumption in Ghana is projected to reach 1.8 million tonnes during the 2025/26 campaign. The population of Ghana stands at 35.4 million. A quick calculation reveals that each Ghanaian eats about 50 kg of rice per year.

Local production hardly reach one million tonnes and the rest has to be imported. Most of the imported rice comes from three countries, namely, Vietnam, India and Thailand. Ghana spent nearly USD 600 million to import rice every year, or roughly 11% of its total food import bill.

In view of the above, the Government of Ghana has positioned rice at the centre of its agricultural and industrial development. At the same time, growing rice locally will contribute to #FoodSecurity and mitigate risks from global supply chain disruptions.

During the Fair, Agribusiness Minister Bryan Acheampong officially unveiled the Asian African Consortium (AAC), a subsidiary of Jospong Group, new rice. The rice is grown and processed locally to meet international standards.

To boost local rice production, the Government has come up with a number of programs such as Planting for Food and Jobs, and the National Rice Development Strategy II (NRDS2). Ghana actually aims for rice self-sufficiency by 2028 by employing better seed varieties, expanding irrigation, adopting modering farming technologies, and developing local processing.

Many African countries have rice in their staple diet, or have rice as one of their source of carbohydrates and energy. If Ghana’s efforts for reaching self-sufficiency is successful, the model can be replicated across the West Africa region and even across the whole continent.