Three farmer-based associations in the rice production sector have raised concern over the negative impact the suspension of the reversal of the benchmark policy will have on the industry.
They said about 300,000 people directly and indirectly engaged in the local rice value chain in the country stood the risk of losing their livelihoods if the benchmark discount policy was not implemented by the government as planned.
Of the number, 100,000 are in the northern sector, while the remaining 200,000 are in the southern sector.
According to the Rice Millers Association, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) and the General Agriculture Workers Union of Ghana (GAWU), the decision to suspend the implementation of the policy would have serious consequences on the survival of the local rice industry and called on the government to urgently reconsider its decision.
