Peasant farmers cry for help …as 200,000 metric tons of local rice remains unsold

The President of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Charles Nyaaba, has revealed that rice farmers in the northern part of the country are currently saddled with about 200,000 metric tons of unsold rice, a situation he describes as dire.According to him, many farmers have been unable to sell rice stored in their warehouses since 2024, and with this year’s harvest season already underway, the situation is expected to worsen if no intervention is made.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, Mr. Nyaaba disclosed that both paddy and milled rice remain unsold across the northern regions.

 

 

“For those that I know of, we are talking not less than 200,000 metric tons of rice unsold,” he said.Describing the situation as a matter of “life and death” for farmers, Mr. Nyaaba appealed to the government to urgently release funds to the National Food Buffer Stock Company to purchase the surplus produce as earlier promised.

“Our appeal is simple: this time around, we are not asking the government to subsidise fertiliser this year. Right now, it is about life and death for farmers, so we want government to urgently, especially through the Minister of Finance, release money to the National Food Buffer Stock Company.

 

 

Charles Nyaaba

“And if that is done, we don’t expect the National Food Buffer Stock Company to go out and get procurement for people to go book and lobby to get those contracts and start importing again. We want them to deal directly with the rice farmers and rice millers — we have the capacity,” he stressed.

Mr. Nyaaba also called for a temporary ban on rice importation and stronger security measures along Ghana’s borders to curb the smuggling of foreign rice into the country.

“A temporary ban on the importation of rice and a permanent closure of illegal borders where the rice passes. The government should ensure that customs and security at those borders tighten their work to ensure that people don’t bring rice through the illegal borders,” he added.By:Isaac Appiah-Kubi