QUALITY IMPROVEMENT OF DOMESTIC RICE - SUPPORT FOR VALUE CHAIN ACTORS Introduction Agriculture -mainstay of the Ghanaian Economy Contributes to about 39% of GDP Employs about 51% (4.2 million) of the working population

The National Food and Agriculture Sector Policy (FASDEP II) has vision of- Modernized agriculture, Culminating in structurally transformed economy, Evident in food security, Employment opportunities, And reduced poverty

The vision is linked to Global, Regional, Sub-regional and National Development programmes such as MDG Goals, GPRS II and CAADP of NEPAD The common goal is food security, employment creation, income generation and poverty reduction

The crop sub-sector in particular quality and competitive rice production provides a major option to exploit towards achieving these goals This is because the rice crop has contributed to the Green Revolution in South-East Asia and other parts of the Sub-Saharan African continent

Rice production in Ghana is however lacking behind levels of consumption Ghana produces only 30% of its rice requirements Imports 70% Amounting to about 500, 000 tons/year Costing about $218m

CHALLENGES TO INCREASED LOCAL RICE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION The poor quality of paddy produced Inadequate and inefficient processing and milling equipment resulting in poor quality milled rice Inadequate and poor post harvest infrastructure High cost of inputs Inadequate funding Others

This project proposal under the NRDS seeks to provide guidelines that will give support to post harvest handling of rice in relation to processing, storage, distribution and marketing of paddy to enhance quality of milled rice, competitiveness, marketing and consumption

JUSTIFICATION Improved rice processing techniques aimed at Increasing the acceptability, marketing and consumption of local (Ghana grown) rice needs to be pursued This project seeks to offer equipment support and strengthen the capacities of stakeholders (post harvest) of the rice sector

JUSTIFICATION CONT’D Contribute to improving competitiveness, quality, enhance income generation, food security and import substitution

INTERVENTION ZONES & TARGET GROUPS Communities in rice growing areas where substantial quantities of paddy rice are produced Communities undertaking rice processing and milling as income generating activities Target groups: farmers, rice processors (parboiling), millers, artisans, haulage companies, traders and consumers

MAIN OBJECTIVE To improve the quality, competitiveness and consumption of domestic rice

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES  To offer strategic support to rice value chain actors (VCAs) for production of quality rice To build the capacities of rice VCAs in post production handling of rice To promote linkage of rice VCAs to credit sources to ensure reliable access to inputs, equipment and market To facilitate reliable pricing and market information system for use by stakeholders along the value chain

COMPONENTS Equipment support Capacity building Credit support system Market information systems

A. EQUIPMENT SUPPORT Outputs Activities Quality of paddy produced enhanced Capacity building in quality control of paddy production Installation and test run of harvesters and threshers Standard rice mills installed and operating Installation and test run of mills Training in safety precautions, operation and maintenance of mills

A. EQUIPMENT SUPPORT CONT’D Existing one-pass mills improved Carry out modification Build capacity of millers in the operation and maintenance of mills Equipment spare parts provided and mills maintained and operational Access the frequently needed parts of mills Acquire/fabricate to build stock of needed spare parts

A. EQUIPMENT SUPPORT CONT’D Quality of milled/ parboiled rice improved Build capacities of millers in milling operations and maintenance Build capacities of processors in improved parboiling technology

B. CAPACITY BUILDING Outputs Activities Groups / associations of VCAs formed and operational Formation and registration of groups/associations Capacity building in effective group management Rice quality standards developed Identify and assess the existing quality control practices Build capacity of processors in regulatory and quality standards

B. CAPACITY BUILDING CONT’D Packaging and labelling introduced Training of stakeholders in packaging of rice using appropriate packaging material Training in branding and adoption of standard weights for marketing rice Capacities of traders enhanced Register buyers and suppliers Capacity building of traders in grading and sorting of appropriate varieties

C. CREDIT SUPPORT SYSTEM Outputs Activities Linkages between MFIs and value chain actors (VCAs) /associations established and functioning Sensitize stakeholders (including micro-finance institutions) on platform creation Organise platform meetings for interactions Adequate credit made available to VCAs and recovered Capacity building in basic business management practices Capacity building in credit management

D. MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS Output Activities Market inform- ation system devel-oped and operat-ional Assessment/evaluation of business enterprises of VCAs Data collection on prices/market trends Collation and analysis of data Create a database of price and market information Develop communication system for MIS via media, cell phones, internet, information centres

COSTS AND FINANCING Component Cost (GHS) 1. Equipment support 60m 60% 2. Capacity building 5m 5% 3. Credit support system 30m 30% 4. Market information system Total 100m 100%

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY An inception workshop to launch project Identification of stakeholders to discuss components and guidelines for implementation Development of work plans and budgets Development of operational manual Development and implementation of M&E system

PROJECT ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT NRDS Coordinating Unit National Rice Quality Control Unit Regional Rice Quality Control Unit District Rice Quality Control Unit Zonal Rice Quality Control Unit

MONITORING AND EVALUATION Coordinate and manage project Periodic monitoring, evaluation and review of project activities Periodic reports on activities carried out Acquisition and supervised distribution of logistic support

RISKS AND ASSUMPTIONS Timely availability of funds Commitment of current and successive Gov’ts Favourable agro-climatic conditions Commitment of project implementation partners Good bilateral relations continue to exist between Ghana and development partners

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT 2

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT OF DOMESTIC RICE – INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT Main objective To develop strategic infrastructure for storage, processing, marketing and distribution of quality rice Specific Objectives To provide appropriate storage/warehousing facilities for paddy and milled rice

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES CONT’D To provide threshing and drying patios for sustained production of quality rice To provide adequate access roads, water, electricity and communication facilities to rice producing and processing areas To develop rice commodity markets at strategic locations across the country Development of rice commodity markets

COMPONENTS 1. Storage facilities/warehousing development 2. Drying patios construction 3. Access roads and utility services development 4. Commodity market development

STORAGE FACILITY/ WAREHOUSING DEV’T Output Activities Storage structures rehab./ constructed Assessment of conditions and capacities of existing storage structures Zone and map producing/processing areas for equitable citing of storage structures Capacity building Training in maintenance of storage structures Capacity building in warehouse mng’t

DRYING PATIOS CONSTRUCTION Output Activities Drying patios constructed/ rehabilitated Zone and map producing/processing areas for equitable citing of patios Evaluate bids and award contracts

ACCESS ROADS AND UTILITY SERVICES DEVELOPMENT Output Activities Access roads constructed Identify, map out and cost potential farm tracts, feeder and trunk roads Evaluate and award contracts Utility services provided Identify, map out and cost potential utility services needed

COMMODITY MARKET DEVELOPMENT Output Activities Rice commodity market established Identify, map out and potential market sites Develop market structures Rice value chain developed Undertake market feasibility studies Facilitate formation of VCAs Build capacity of actors on GAPs, GHPs, GMPs

Storage facility/warehousing support 60m 2 COSTS AND FINANCING Component Cost (GHS) 1 Storage facility/warehousing support 60m 60% 2 Construction of drying patios 5m 5% 3 Dev’t of roads and utility services 30m 30% 4 Dev’t of rice commodity markets Total 100m 100%

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY An inception workshop to launch project Identification of stakeholders to discuss components and guidelines for implementation Development of work plans and budgets Development of operational manual Development and implementation of M&E system

PROJECT ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT NRDS Coordinating Unit National Rice Quality Control Unit Regional Rice Quality Control Unit District Rice Quality Control Unit Zonal Rice Quality Control Unit

MONITORING AND EVALUATION Coordinate and manage project Periodic monitoring, evaluation and review of project activities Periodic reports on activities carried out Acquisition and supervised distribution of logistic support

RISKS AND ASSUMPTIONS Timely availability of funds Commitment of current and successive Governments Favourable agro-climatic conditions Commitment of project implementation partners Good bilateral relations continue to exist between Ghana and development partners