In Savelugu, Alan Kyerematen opens a factory that processes rice.

 

A facility for processing rice has been opened in the Northern Region's Savelugu Municipality by Minister of Trade and Industry Alan Kyerematen.

"Boosting Local Enterprise For Job Creation and Economic Prosperity Towards a Ghana Beyond Aid" was the theme of the event.

The most recent plant to open, the Savelugu rice processing facility, is one of many local businesses that have benefited from the 1D1F.

Mr. Kyerematen additionally installed a nine-person board of directors to monitor the management and operations of the factory in order to assure efficiency and accomplish its intended aims.

Technology Solution Centre

In addition, Mr. Kyerematen opened the Savelugu Technology Solution Center, which will make it easier to produce maintenance services, spare parts, and agricultural processing machinery.

The center, which is run by the Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) and GRATIS Foundation, offers training for developing human resources and capacity for a variety of local enterprises, including the factory.

Inauguration

The rice processing business will significantly boost farmer productivity and generate jobs in the area, Mr. Kyerematen remarked during the opening ceremony last Wednesday (December 28, 2022) at Savelugu.

By giving their produce more value, he claimed, the farmers in the area would be better equipped to compete on the market and earn more money.

Regarding the center, Mr. Kyerematen stated that it was anticipated to help not just the rice industry but also all enterprises within its catchment area by offering current technology support services.

He pledged that the Ministry would keep fostering an atmosphere that supports economic growth in order to ensure the viability of enterprises.

Akwasi Attah Antwi, the National Director of the REP, stated that 118 people, including management professionals, manufacturing floor workers, and plantation laborers who would operate on the nucleus rice fields, were anticipated to be employed by the factory.

Furthermore, approximately 754 farmers from the Savelugu Municipality and other areas will be directly employed to supply rice to the business, he added.

The facility, according to the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, would operate as a catalyst to boost national food security while bringing about the necessary development in the region.

Hajia Ayishetu Seidu, the municipal chief executive of Savelugu, claimed that it would aid in reducing unemployment and draw young people into the agriculture industry. She urged locals to benefit from the program to promote the region's sustainable growth and development.

Background

The Savelugu rice processing factory is a farmer-owned agro-industrial processing facility developed with seed finance from the Ministry of Trade and Industry under the Rural Enterprises Programme. It is part of the government's 1D1F Common User Facility (CUF) initiative.

It aims to make it easier for farmers and other agricultural value chain participants who have limited or no financial resources to set up their own common user processing facilities to process the produce from their farms.

Similar facilities under the program have been set up in the Sekyere Central District of the Ashanti Region, the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality of the Western Region, the Dormaa West District of the Bono Region, and the Sefwi Akontombra District of the Western North Region.

Mr. Kyerematen is anticipated to open these facilities as part of the government's 1D1F plan in other regions of the nation during the following months.