Nisia Rice Mills employs 40 permanent staff

Accra, July 12, GNA - Mr Effah Baafi, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, said the resuscitated Nisia Rice Mills that mills 1,000 bags o= f rice daily, had employed about 40 permanent staff.

He said the company had given direct employment to some 50,000 women engaged in the processing of parboiled rice at the Mill. Mr Baafi said that the company since its establishment a year ago had purchased 50,000 bags of maize and 150,000 bags of paddy rice from farmers in the Northern parts of the country.

The Deputy Minister, who was answering questions in Parliament, said the availability of ready market for rice had motivated the farmers to increased production. He said the farmers had been liberated form the 93Gao" middlemen, w= ho bought grains from them at low prices.

Mr Baafi said the Irrigation Development Authority was rehabilitating outlets of Tono Irrigation project, to make additional 351 hectares of land available for the cultivation of tomatoes for the Northern Star Tomato Factory.

He said so far 67 dams had been rehabilitated for the production of crops and livestock in the Northern parts of the country. Mr Baafi said that the Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) was supporting a total of 13,699 farmers made of 8,948 males and 4751 females i= n 43 districts in the Upper West, Upper East, and Northern regions, to engage in agriculture activities this year.

He said that a total of GH¢3.5 million was being disbursed by some financial institutions to the farmers. "The banks are using their own money and not funds from NRGP value chain financing model known as the cashless credit system, to ensure high productivity to guarantee market and measures for the payment of the loans,= " he said. Mr Baafi said that the NRGP was also supporting research towards the production of Djanguma soyabean hybrid, and assisting the Grains and Legume= s Development Board with irrigation equipment. He said the Ministry had initiated the Root and Tubers Improvement and Marketing Programme to enhance income and food security to improve the livelihood of the rural poor.