The Commodity Brokers Association of Ghana has projected local rice contracts as one of the commodities to make significant gains on the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) in the coming months.

Following the approval by the Security and Exchange Commission, Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) on December 15, 2020 added rice contracts to the initially listed agro-commodities on its electronic trading platform, bringing the total number of commodities traded to five. The initial listed commodities were maize, soya bean, sorghum and sesame contract. This move was expected to boost local rice production and consumption as the government continues with its plans to reduce the need for import and satisfy 100% of local demand by 2025 through its flagship program, Planting for Food and Jobs.

Speaking on another sister station, the Vice President of the Commodity Brokers Association of Ghana, Jeffery Ntorinkansah explained that their projection is based on a strict grading system implemented by the GCX coupled with demand from local rice millers in Ghana.

“The signs are promising and that is because the farmers are bringing local rice in and a lot of the millers would prefer rice coming through our warehouses because of the grading. We have engaged some of them and they are willing to off-take; some of them have signed off-take contracts with our members.

“Bringing rice on board and hopefully expanding the product list on the exchange will give us more variety. So, rice has given us a lot more room to be able to aggregate. In terms of numbers, some of our brokers are doing a little over 200 metric tons within the last four weeks which traditionally they would have such numbers sometime in February or March but because rice is now on board, they can focus more efforts in terms of the aggregation of rice just as they will with maize, sesame, soya or sorghum.”
Jeffery Ntorinkansah

Rice has become the most consumed food staple in the country after maize. The country’s annual rice import bill, which is about 50 percent of rice consumed, currently stands at about US$1 billion, which is mainly to complement the consumption gap left by domestic production. It is estimated that about 1.2 million metric tonnes of rice would be produced in the 2020/21 harvest year. However, just about 750,000 metric tonnes were produced during 2019 crop season.

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has identified rice as an important food crop that should be given special attention for food self-sufficiency in Ghana.

Ghana Commodity Exchange is a marketplace where buyers and sellers of listed commodities undertake electronic trading under rules. The Exchange aims to standardize rice trading in Ghana with its grading system, to enable buyers and sellers appropriately judge the quality of the produce they trade. These innovations give farmers the chance to further enhance the value of their produce and make it a much more attractive option on both the local and international market.