KOPIA-CSIR Partnership Jumps Local Rice Production

The combination of Korean power and Ghana’s potential has unleashed great outcomes.  South Korea has made a huge difference in agricultural productivity in Ghana. Through the Korean Programme for International Agriculture (KOPIA), Ghana has made considerable progress in rice production.

Its 27 million-dollar investment has firmly anchored rice production in Ghana through research and the application of research knowledge by farmers. The Crop Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR has been pivotal in the development and propagation of improved planting material.

The intervention by KOPIA is yielding results that are gargantuan. Rice farmers in Ghana have increased production tons from an average of 3 to 9 following the improved rice variety developed by CSIR. The qualities of the new variety include stress tolerance, all-year-round viability, and early maturity.

At the Dawhenya Irrigation project site on 10 May 2023, the Ambassador of South Korea to Ghana, Jung-Taek Lim, the Chief Executive of KOPIA,  Dr. Man Young Choi, the Director of KOPIA-Ghana, Dr. Kim-Choong Hoe and the Director-General of CSIR, Prof. Paul Bosu severally inaugurated a high-capacity rice warehouse on location for farmers.

Dr. Hoe said the Korean Government’s assistance is predicated on Ghana’s under-performance in rice production despite having the potential to bridge the gap between demand and supply of the food staple. The favorable conditions for greater output are the existence of effective research institutions, arable lands, the presence of labor, good climatic conditions, and natural valleys for the cultivation of the cereal.

Ghana however relies heavily on imported agricultural machinery with the supplement of vastly under-utilized local technology.

Again, Ghana currently imports half of its rice requirements; not good for a country battling inflation and trying to conserve foreign exchange.