Barely 2.6 percent of the national agricultural land goes to rice cultivation, despite the country spending an estimated GH¢3.05 billion on rice imports in 2024, according to a new study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
The report warns that decades of underinvestment, fragmented policies, and structural barriers have left the country chronically dependent on imported rice even as local consumption continues to accelerate. It added that failure to act quickly and decisively would make it increasingly harder to reverse the trend.
The findings, presented in Accra by Dr Said Boakye, Senior Research Fellow and Acting Executive Director of the IFS, revealed that while Ghana possesses abundant land and favourable growing conditions, only a fraction is used for rice.
In contrast, Thailand dedicates between 43.1 and 51.5 percent of its farmland to rice, while Vietnam allocates 58.8 to 92 percent, a commitment that has allowed both nations to attain self-sufficiency and become major exporters.
“Ghana has devoted a paltry range of 0.3 percent to 2.6 percent of its agricultural land for rice cultivation. Thus, these tiny average ratios of Ghana’s agricultural land used for rice cultivation in each period explain why areas harvested of rice in Ghana are so small… which has contributed significantly to the inability of the country to produce enough rice to meet domestic consumption, leading to the increasing importation of rice,” Dr Boakye said, noting that the country’s agricultural priorities have failed to keep pace with its shifting dietary preferences.
Data from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture indicate that per capita rice consumption has risen sharply from 12.4 kilograms in 1980 to more than 61 kilograms in 2022, outpacing domestic production by a wide margin.
Extant data show that rice imports for the 2024/2025 marketing year could reach 950,000 tonnes, as the supply gap continues to widen.
In 2024 alone, Ghana spent GH¢1.98 billion on semi-milled or wholly milled rice and another GH¢1.07 billion on broken rice, making rice imports one of the largest components of the national food import bill.
The Institute warned that the import dependence carries far-reaching economic consequences, including foreign exchange losses, exchange rate depreciation, and increased food insecurity.
Despite repeated government interventions, including the Operation Feed Yourself campaign to the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative and the National Rice Development Strategies (NRDS I and II), the sector continues to underperform, largely due to poor strategy, weak implementation and policy discontinuity.
Productivity constraints and policy fragmentation
The IFS attributes the sector’s low productivity to four main factors, namely, low fertiliser application, ineffective seed systems, limited mechanisation, and inadequate irrigation infrastructure, compounded by restrictive land tenure arrangements.
Average yields in Ghana range from 1.1 to 3.3 metric tonnes per hectare, compared to about 6 tonnes in Vietnam.
One critical bottleneck is the collapse of the domestic seed industry following the privatisation of seed production and marketing in 1989 during the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), the report revealed.
The dismantling of the Ghana Seed Company left private firms to drive supply, but without state coordination, the sector stagnated.
“The intention was to make the private sector more efficient in seed supply, but the outcome has been the opposite,” Dr. Boakye said.
As a result, only three percent of rice farmers currently use certified seed, compared to more than 80 percent in Vietnam, where a mix of public and private enterprises ensures quality and availability.
Another persistent obstacle is the local land tenure system, which restricts access to land for large-scale commercial cultivation. Most arable land is customarily owned and governed by traditional authorities, making long-term leasing difficult and costly.
“Without reforming land allocation and ownership, Ghana cannot scale production to meet national needs,” Dr Boakye noted.
The study also highlighted weak irrigation coverage and low mechanisation levels, with only about 10 percent of rice farms being irrigated, leaving farmers vulnerable to erratic rainfall.
Mechanisation coverage remains low, with most farmers relying on manual tools. In contrast, countries like Vietnam have mechanised almost the entire rice production process, improving yields and efficiency.
Consumer preferences further complicate the picture as increasing urbanisation is seeing consumers favour imported aromatic rice, which they perceive as cleaner and more consistent in quality. This bias limits the domestic market for locally milled rice, dampening investment in local value chains.
Lessons from Vietnam and Thailand
The IFS drew important comparisons with Vietnam and Thailand, both of which successfully transitioned from rice importers to major exporters.
The two countries, the report noted, achieved this through policy coherence, government coordination, and sustained public investment in inputs, irrigation, and market infrastructure.
Vietnam, in particular, transformed its rice economy by combining state-led coordination with private sector engagement. Land reform, domestic fertiliser production, irrigation expansion, and strong research and extension services collectively boosted yields.
Thailand followed a similar path, prioritising rice cultivation within its agricultural strategy and maintaining consistent state support.
By contrast, Ghana’s reliance on fragmented, market-led models has yielded limited results. “The state cannot abdicate responsibility for national food security. Private investment must complement, not replace, government coordination,” Dr Boakye said.
Recommendations for transformation
To address these structural weaknesses, the IFS proposed a comprehensive reform package anchored in institutional restructuring, state-led coordination, and targeted investment.
At the centre of this proposal is the creation of a Rice Development Board (RDB), a statutory institution to coordinate all rice-related policies, programmes, and investments across the value chain.
The RDB would provide continuity beyond political cycles, harmonise stakeholder efforts, and ensure accountability in implementation. It would oversee certified seed supply, fertiliser access, irrigation expansion, mechanisation, post-harvest management, and quality assurance in rice processing and marketing.
The IFS recommended that the RDB actively engage in local fertiliser production, offering tax incentives and subsidies to private investors. Ghana currently imports all its fertiliser, making prices volatile and access limited.
Local production, the report argues, would ensure steady supply and cost efficiency, following Vietnam’s example, where domestic plants produce millions of tonnes annually for local farmers.
On seed systems, the RDB should collaborate with research institutions to produce, certify, and distribute high-yielding seed varieties, including aromatic rice types comparable to imported brands.
If local research capacity remains insufficient, the Board should facilitate the importation of quality seed varieties for domestic cultivation, thereby aligning production with market demand.
Regarding irrigation, the IFS urged close collaboration between the RDB and the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) to expand the use of irrigable lands, estimated at nearly 1.9 million hectares.
Increasing irrigated acreage would stabilise yields, mitigate weather-related losses, and enable continuous cultivation cycles.
Mechanisation is also central to the recommendations, with the study proposing that the RDB support both the importation and local assembly of farm machinery, encouraging partnerships with indigenous manufacturers to design equipment suited to local conditions. It also recommends targeted subsidies and credit facilities for farmer cooperatives to acquire modern machinery and post-harvest technologies.
In addressing land access, the IFS proposes that the state acquire and classify suitable tracts as public agricultural lands, to be leased to individuals and agribusinesses at affordable rates. This would remove long-standing bottlenecks created by customary tenure systems and enable commercial-scale cultivation.
The Institute also calls for the mobilisation of young people into rice cultivation as a strategic employment intervention.
Young people, it argues, should be supported with seed capital, training, and mechanisation services irrespective of political affiliation, enabling them to participate in group-based or cooperative farming ventures.
The IFS further recommended a targeted programme to enhance consumer confidence in local rice through improved branding, packaging, and quality control. By strengthening domestic market appeal, local producers could capture a larger share of urban demand currently dominated by imported rice,” Dr Boakye noted.
A call for coherence and commitment
The IFS insisted that Ghana’s rice sector has immense potential but remains trapped by weak coordination and insufficient investment. The country possesses more than 5.9 million hectares of land (4 million lowlands and 1.9 million with irrigation potential) suitable for rice cultivation, yet uses only a fraction.
If yields were raised to Vietnam’s level of 6 tonnes per hectare, Ghana could produce over 35.4 million tonnes of paddy rice annually, more than enough to meet local demand and generate export surpluses.
Dr Boakye stressed that Ghana’s rice sector must move beyond short-term programmes and “political showmanship” to embrace sustained, non-partisan institutional reforms.
“The goal should not merely be to double production, but to transform Ghana into a competitive rice-producing economy,” he said.
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