By Bright Kofi Agamah
Rice farmers in the Upper East Region have welcomed the Warehouse Receipt System -WRS Project of the IFC, World Bank Group, saying it will improve their livelihood.
They said the project will help to produce quality grains and provide opportunities to access credit to expand their agricultural business, as they store their grains in certified and secured warehouses.
The farmers said this at the end of a training on Post-Harvest Management in Navrongo.
A participant Madam Doris Adda, said better prices will be attracted as they use the secured warehouses.
Madam Doris Adda, said initially they did not know how and where to store their rice. As a result, the market women will come for the rice, sell it before paying them. But with the WRS Project, they can use the receipts to get loans before selling the produce, saying the future will be great.
Another rice farmer, Justice Ayine, who is the Assembly Member for Nyariga, within the Bongo District of the Upper East Region, was elated that WRS project, is making it possible for farmers to get loans whilst keeping the produce for a better price, adding, this would help them to get loan and invest more into their farming business.
A rice farmer at Navrongo, within the Kassena Nankana District of the Upper East, James Bawa, on his part disclosed that the training has exposed them to the structured trading systems that enable farmers to get value for their efforts.
He said the training has taught them marketing which has been a major challenge for their farming activities.
The IFC Ghana WRS Project is being implemented in nine regions of the country with financial support from Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
It is a technical assistance and advisory services project aimed at setting up a well-functioning regulated WRS that is expected to facilitate an increased access to better storage facilities to reduce post-harvest loses, access to credit and structured markets for smallholder farmers and the supply chain.
The Project is working in partnership with participating financial institutions to grant better financial inclusion for farmers, traders, and small medium enterprises.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. It works in more than 100 countries, using capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries.
Last year, IFC committed 31.5 billion dollars to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.