Editorial: The Noise We Make About Patronizing Local Goods!

It has been reported that despite the efforts being made to encourage Ghanaians to consume locally produced rice, it is not easy to find one at the Koforidua and other markets across the nation. A recent survey carried out by the Ghana News Agency revealed that out of over 20 shops in the central part of the New Juaben Municipality, only one shop located in an obscure corner behind the South Akim Rural Bank was the place which deals in locally produced rice. However the shop does not open regularly and had been closed for the past four days, the survey revealed. Speaking to the GNA, Ms Sophia Kissi, a shop owner at the market, said sometime in January, a representative of a company that distributes locally produced rice came to register shops dealing in rice. She said the agent promised to start the supply of the locally produced rice in February but had not honoured the promise. Koforidua is not far away from Asutuare, Kpong and the Kwaebibirim District where rice is grown on a large scale. Over the past several years, we the people of Ghana have made much noise about patronizing local rice in order to create employment. It was in this direction that government even imposed taxes on imported rice. However, it would seem that apart from imposing the tax, very little was done to develop the local rice industry, particularly in the area of ensuring that Ghanaians patronize and get access to the local rice. More often than not, we have paid lip service to our problems, instead of solving them. The Daily Searchlight would therefore like to call on government to use the Koforidua example to re-focus in its efforts to get Ghanaians to patronize local rice and other local products, because it is the one sure way through which we can create employment.