Protect our rice farmers

THERE is no way Ghana’s economy could grow, create meaningful jobs and help raise standard of living of Ghanaians if we do things that continue to kill initiatives and become disincentive to our local farmers. All our governments agree on the need to support Ghanaian farmers and our local industries, yet they are not able to act on this when they find themselves in power.
COUNTRIES such as United States of America, Britain, Germany, Japan among other advanced nations do not protect their local farmers and industries out of nothing. Governments in these countries do this with the aim of creating wealth and improving the well-being of their citizenry.
WHY can’t we also do same but are always seen importing goods? And we know one thing for sure that such huge importation of goods do a lot of harm to the growth of our local industries and farmers who are already facing stiff and keen competitions on the international market.
FOR us on this part of the world our governments are often not able to walk their talk neither are they able to practise what they preach. They say one thing whilst in opposition and when entrusted with power do otherwise. That is the kind of situation many developing countries find themselves in.
RECENTLY, it was reported that rice importers in the country were worried about the large importation of Ivorian rice brands into the country. What was even more disquieting about this was that the Ivorian rice brands were being smuggled into Ghana without the importers paying any taxes. This, as reported, was going on at the various boarders of the country.
SO far, regions that have seen these Ivorian rice brands on their markets include Ashanti, Western, Brong Ahafo, Central and now Greater Accra. How can we encourage Ghanaians to patronize homegrown rice when such bad practices are endemic in our society? Definitely we would not achieve our target as many Ghanaians would find the Ivorian rice relatively cheaper and would therefore go in for them.
APART from our local rice farmers not having market for their produce, the government also loses millions of cedis as revenue through the evasion of taxes by these importers. We must understand that we will need to do more if indeed we want to create wealth and jobs in this country.
THAT is why it is incumbent upon the NDC government to take steps to address some of these burning issues. At least when such problems are immediately addressed they will help restore confidence in our local farmers and encourage them to give off their best.
WE at Today are therefore urging the Mills government to take appropriate steps to deal with the problem. What is being done in the advanced world could also be replicated here if we are determined to grow our economy.