Partnership with Thailand will end rice importation in 2 years – Dr Agyepong asserts
Jospong Group of Companies (JGC) says it has entered into partnership with a major rice producing company in Thailand to develop an integrated rice farming project in Ghana.
It is the expectation of JGC that within two years of the successful implementation of the initiative, it will end rice importation into the country.
The Thai companies according to the Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, will provide technical and equipment support for the entire rice value chain in the country with the aim of producing rice for the local Ghanaian market and for export.
The plan
Dr Siaw Agyepong made this known when he led a delegation made up of officials from Jospong and their partners from Thailand, to pay a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House on Friday 30 December 2022.
In his presentation to bring the President up to speed on steps his organization has taken since conceiving the plan to go into rice production, Dr Agyepong indicated that Ghana currently imports between 800 million to 1 billion dollars’ worth of rice into the country on annual basis.
He noted that following his recent visit to Thailand and the subsequent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with their Thai partners, a company to know as “Asian African Corporation”, has been incorporated to facilitate the execution of the partnership and the project as a whole.
The Jospong boss also noted that about 160 million dollars is to be invested into the project by their Thai partners. In all, 16 groups made up Thai nationals have been constituted and they will be working with Ghanaian out growers and farmers in the rice sector to get the project underway.
“Our idea is that we are going to grow rice through out the entire country, from the North to the South. We are developing 16 teams made up of Thai nationals to work with the out growers and farmers and within two years, we will stop importing rice” the Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong said.
The next planting season for rice which is March / April 2023 according to Dr Siaw Agyepong, is the targeted timeline for the project to start across the country.
Self-sufficiency
President Akufo-Addo in response said developing self sufficiency in food production in Ghana is a major concern for his government and that he is excited about Jospong’s partnership with a company that has a proven track record in rice production in Thailand.
“We spend a lot of our money into importing food stuff into Ghana. It has been going on for too long and I think now is the time that we are going to have to make these systematic efforts to be self sufficient and depend on ourselves” President Akufo-Addo said.
“I am excited about the idea of getting into bed with people who are known to have succeeded in doing what we are now trying to do” he added.
Rice Production in Thailand
Thailand is currently the 6th biggest producer of rice in the world raked after China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. In 2019, Thailand produced 21.67 million tons of rice, 25.18 million in 2018 and 32.9 million in 2017.
Rice is not only the main staple crop of the country but also the primary agricultural export. Thailand has for decades been one of the world’s largest rice exporters.
