Story: News Desk
The leadership of Ghana’s major farmer groups and agribusiness associations have declared a nationwide boycott of the 2025 Farmers’ Day celebrations, citing government inaction and worsening conditions in the country’s 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 providers, input dealers, and apex farmer associations, together with key players in the agribusiness value chain. The boycott will affect Farmers’ Day events at the district, regional, and national levels.
According to the statement, the action stemmed from what the farmers described as deep frustration over the government’s failure to address mounting challenges, particularly those affecting rice, maize, and soya producers.
The groups accused 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.
“Despite repeated government assurances, farmers are still waiting. No action has been taken, and the situation has left many producers unable to sell their harvests,” the statement read.
The farmers also raised concerns over the influx of cheap, expired, and smuggled rice into local markets, which they said were often backed by politically connected importers. These imported products, they alleged, were repackaged and sold without proper regulation or tax compliance, severely undermining local farmers and millers.
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’s 2025 rice output projected at 1.5 million metric tons, farmers fear a worsening glut that could drive many out of business.
In their list of demands, the farmers called for:
* A six-month suspension of all foreign rice imports beginning November 2025, alongside tighter border controls.
* A long-term import management strategy based on national production capacity.
* A directive mandating public institutions — including schools, hospitals, prisons, and security agencies — to source rice and maize exclusively from local farmers.
* Immediate release of funds by the Ministry of Finance to NAFCO to buy surplus produce.
* The introduction of a guaranteed minimum price for rice and maize to protect farmers from exploitation.
The farmers emphasised that the boycott was not meant to undermine the importance of Farmers’ Day but to demand urgent government action to safeguard local agriculture.
“This action is not an attack on the idea of honoring farmers,” the statement said. “It is a firm and united statement that policies and practices which undermine farmers cannot be celebrated while our livelihoods collapse.”
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.
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.
