Tamale Central MP Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed has raised serious concerns about the National Disaster Management Organisation’s (NADMO) decision to import rice for disaster victims, highlighting the stark contrast with the struggles faced by local rice farmers in finding markets for their produce.
In a passionate address on the floor of Parliament, the former Deputy Trade Minister criticized the government’s annual expenditure of over $2 billion on imported rice, despite the surplus of locally grown rice.
“I am a farmer myself. I still have thousands of bags of my rice sitting in Yagba without a market. Honourable Akandoh faces the same issue with his rice. Honourable Adongo and even clerks of this House have rice without buyers,” Murtala Mohammed lamented.
He stressed the economic importance of supporting local rice farmers and reducing the country’s dependence on imported rice and poultry products.
“I have personally engaged the Minister for Agriculture to consider purchasing our locally produced rice. Yet, paradoxically, NADMO is procuring imported rice for our citizens. This contradiction is simply untenable,” he stated emphatically.
Murtala Mohammed called for urgent action to rectify this situation, emphasizing that prioritizing local agricultural production is essential for economic sustainability and food security in Ghana.
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