INCREASING IMPORTATIONOF RICE IN GHANA: CAN THE COUNTRY TRANSFORM ITS FORTUNES IN THE RICE SECTOR?

Importation of rice has been a serious issue of concern for the government of Ghana since the 1960s, due to its balance of payments, exchange rate, and food security implications. Therefore, over the years, the government has pursued a number of strategies to stem it. Yet, not only do data reveal that the strategies have failed to curtail it, they also reveal that rice importation has accelerated in recent years, making it assume alarming proportions.

This is because, even though the government is generally aware of the challenges facing the country’s rice sector, we find in this paper that the government’s strategies are not appropriate enough to address the fundamentals of the problem. Simply put, we find that there has been a policy failure in the country’s rice sector because the policies the government of Ghana has pursued in the sector are ill-suited. Methodologically, we have compared, in this paper, Ghana with Thailand and Vietnam, two major successful players in the global rice industry, in terms of the dynamics of rice import, production, and consumption.