The leadership of Ghana\u2019s major farmer groups and agribusiness associations have declared a nationwide boycott of the 2025 Farmers\u2019 Day celebrations, citing government inaction and worsening conditions in the country\u2019s food production sector.<\/p>\n
The decision, announced in a joint press release on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, involves rice producers and millers, maize farmers, mechanisation service providers, input dealers, and apex farmer associations, together with key players in the agribusiness value chain. The boycott will affect Farmers\u2019 Day events at the district, regional, and national levels.<\/p>\n
According to the statement, the action stems from what the farmers describe as deep frustration over the government\u2019s failure to address mounting challenges, particularly those affecting rice, maize, and soya producers.<\/p>\n
The groups accuse the government of neglecting its promise to purchase locally produced rice and maize through the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), as assured by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in a public statement issued on September 23, 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite repeated government assurances, farmers are still waiting. No action has been taken, and the situation has left many producers unable to sell their harvests,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n
The farmers also raised concerns over the influx of cheap, expired, and smuggled rice into local markets, which they say are often backed by politically connected importers. These imported products, they allege, are repackaged and sold without proper regulation or tax compliance, severely undermining local farmers and millers.<\/p>\n
As of last week, the groups noted, more than 200,000 metric tons of paddy rice from the 2024 harvest remain unsold across the Upper East, Northern, and North East regions. With Ghana\u2019s 2025 rice output projected at 1.5 million metric tons, farmers fear a worsening glut that could drive many out of business.<\/p>\n
In their list of demands, the farmers called for:<\/p>\n
* A six-month suspension of all foreign rice imports beginning November 2025, alongside tighter border controls.
\n* A long-term import management strategy based on national production capacity.
\n* A directive mandating public institutions \u2014 including schools, hospitals, prisons, and security agencies \u2014 to source rice and maize exclusively from local farmers.
\n* Immediate release of funds by the Ministry of Finance to NAFCO to buy surplus produce.
\n* The introduction of a guaranteed minimum price for rice and maize to protect farmers from exploitation.<\/p>\n
The farmers emphasised that the boycott is not meant to undermine the importance of Farmers\u2019 Day but to demand urgent government action to safeguard local agriculture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis action is not an attack on the idea of honoring farmers,\u201d the statement said. \u201cIt is a firm and united statement that policies and practices which undermine farmers cannot be celebrated while our livelihoods collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boycott has been endorsed by the Association of Rice Producers and Millers, Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana, Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen (GNAFF), General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body (GRIB), and several others.<\/p>\n
The Committee for the Promotion of Local Rice and Other Commodities, which issued the statement, said the boycott will stand until the government meets the outlined demands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The leadership of Ghana\u2019s major farmer groups and agribusiness associations have declared a nationwide boycott of the 2025 Farmers\u2019 Day celebrations, citing government inaction and worsening conditions in the country\u2019s food production sector. The decision, announced in a joint press release on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, involves rice producers and millers, maize farmers, mechanisation service […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3788,3525,41,3507],"tags":[4299,4301,4300],"class_list":["post-13870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","category-economy","category-general-news","category-national","tag-agribusiness-value-chain","tag-ministry-of-food-and-agriculture","tag-nafco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/123457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13872,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13870\/revisions\/13872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}