Akuse (E/R) Aug. 2, GNA - The Minister of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) is to promote value addition to agricultural products as a means to increase food production in the country. Major Courage Quarshigah (rtd), Minister of MOFA, who disclosed this on Friday at Akuse in the Eastern Region noted that the level of agricultural production is relatively high in the country, however, productivity is low, and attributed this to a lot of waste in the system.
The Minister, who was the guest speaker at the 25th graduation ceremony at the Bok Nam Kim Agricultural School and farm for 40 selected farmers and youth institutions to learn modern and scientific method of rice production.
Major Quarshigah said "because of waste, "we cannot add value to our food products, we produce meat and consume it with the hide instead of separating it from the meat to develop hide for leather industry. "Some people are busy exporting dried orange peels, but throw the orange itself away. We buy cassava, yam, plantain, maize in their primitive forms and in the process of cooking them, we throw away the peels and other by-products, which could be used as animal feed with a little value addition."
The rice industry, he said, is also experiencing a lot of waste, adding, "I have seen rice straw and bran with little value addition to serve as food for livestock being burnt on some rice fields. The Ministry had therefore, decided to educate both rice producers and livestock farmers to link up for the utilisation of rice by-products.
To this end, the Ministry, in collaboration with a private businessman has experimented the development of broken rice grits, which is good for porridge, and rice flour is used for pastries.
He emphasised, "if we can add value to all the stages of rice processing, we can create more business in the industry to increase the demand for rice, its products and thereby increase people's incomes".
The Minister disclosed that the engineers of the Ministry in collaboration with Dunkwa Continental Goldfields are manufacturing threshers for rice mechanization, adding, "I will support the private sector to invest in appropriate processing technologies."
He therefore, called on rice processors and other stakeholders to intensively promote rice and its by-products in all communities, while the Ministry is planning with the Bok Nam Kim Agricultural School to finance a Month's course for some selected farmers to learn modern technology of rice production adding that measure to cut down on rice imports is on course.
The Minister presented two new motor bicycles costing 30 million cedis to the school.
Mr. Lee Sang-Dac, Korean Ambassador in Ghana said without sound agricultural policy Ghana couldn't achieve the expected economic growth. He called for the modernisation of rice production to enable the country to reduce its rice imports so that foreign exchange for that could be channeled to other areas.
In a speech read for her, Mrs Young Ok Kim, Managing Director of Afko Group of Companies traced the history of the school and said about 1,000 farmers have been trained.
She suggested to the MOFA to assess the impact this technological transfer from Korea to Ghana has had on rice production in the country during the two decades to enable the school to consider the necessary changes on the syllabus to improve the programme.
Dr. John William Oteng, Senior Research fellow of the University of Ghana chaired the function. Certificates were awarded to participants.
