AfDB Grants Ghana US$18.8m to Boost Rice Production as Output Hits 960,000 Tonnes

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a US500 million annual rice import bill, as the government pushes to achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2028.

The grant was announced by the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, at the launch of the Regional West Africa Resilient Rice Value Chains Development Project (REWARD-Ghana) in Tamale on Monday . The AfDB Board had approved the facility in May 2026, with implementation set to begin in the 2027 production season .

Production Rises but Gap Persists

Ghana’s milled rice production has increased from approximately 685,000 metric tonnes in 2022 to 960,000 metric tonnes in 2025 . Despite the progress, local output meets only about 56 per cent of national consumption, leaving a 44 per cent supply gap filled largely through imports .

The minister put the annual import bill at approximately US$500 million, describing the expenditure as money that could instead accrue to Ghanaian farmers, millers and traders . The government has set a national paddy production target of 3.31 million metric tonnes to close the deficit by 2028 .

What the REWARD Project Will Do

The project will develop approximately 3,200 hectares of land for rice cultivation within the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone . Beneficiary districts include Tamale Metropolitan, Mion, Savelugu, Mamprugu-Moagduri, West Gonja, Wa Municipal and Nandom . More than 20,000 smallholder farmers, including women and young people, are expected to benefit directly .

The initiative will provide agricultural machinery including rice transplanters, seed drills, rotary tillers, boom sprayers and mini crawler combine harvesters. Selected seed centres and rice processors will receive equipment such as seed cleaners, colour sorters, destoners and improved parboiling vessels to enhance the quality and competitiveness of locally produced rice .

The minister emphasised that the intervention goes beyond increasing production, stressing that strengthening processing, marketing and reliable market linkages would be critical to building a commercially viable rice industry .

Broader Policy Context and Challenges

The REWARD project forms part of the government’s flagship Feed Ghana Programme and the broader Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda (AETA) . Opoku has previously signalled a shift in import policy, indicating that rice import permits would be linked to verifiable investments in domestic production—a measure aimed at channelling import value into local capacity rather than banning imports outright .

The push for self-sufficiency faces headwinds beyond production. Farmers in the northern belt have reported holding more than 700,000 metric tonnes of unsold paddy rice from the previous season, with only about 20 per cent of the harvest sold, raising concerns about market absorption as production increases . The government has allocated GH¢500 million in the 2027 budget for silos at strategic locations to store excess grain and build a national food buffer .

Opoku called on Ghanaians—particularly households, hotels, restaurants, schools and food vendors—to prioritise locally produced rice to support farmers and retain foreign exchange within the economy .

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Reporter’s note: The US$18.8 million figure is a grant from the AfDB, not a loan. Production and import figures are as stated by the Minister for Food and Agriculture at the project launch. The self-sufficiency target of 2028 remains a policy objective; independent verification of progress toward the 3.31 million metric tonne paddy target was not available at the time of publication.