Bush fires ravage rice farms in 5 Northern Regions

Rice farmers in the 5 regions of the north in this year experienced bumper harvest of rice. Unfortunately, these farmers risk losing their produce to bush fires due to lack of ready market.

National President of Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), Abdul-Rahman Mohammed who revealed that the situation greatly affects rice production called for government intervention.

“The role of farmers in Ghana is important as we provide more than 80 percent of the food for domestic consumption and for export. However, we are faced with many challenges in our farming activities. This challenges ranges from low and unreliable rainfall, high cost of inputs, low price of our farm produce, high post-harvest losses. As we speak, I have lost more than 50 acres of my rice farm due to bush fires”.

Abdul-Rahman Mohammed said this during a stakeholder’s meeting of rice farmers in the 5 regions of the North held in Navrongo in the Upper East Region.

Another farmer whose rice farm was on fire at the time of the meeting revealed that “I have just received a call that fire is on my farm. In fact, bush fire is our main problem”.