Ghana’s leading farmer unions and agribusiness associations have announced a nationwide boycott of the 2025 Farmers’ Day celebrations, citing worsening conditions in the agricultural sector and the government’s failure to honour key commitments made to food producers.
The decision, made public through a joint press release on October 29, 2025, brings together rice producers, maize farmers, millers, input suppliers, mechanisation service providers, and apex farmer associations. Their withdrawal from this year’s celebration will affect events at district, regional, and national levels.
According to the coalition, the boycott represents growing anger over unfulfilled promises, especially those tied to the government’s pledge to buy locally produced rice and maize through the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO). That commitment, first announced by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in September 2025, has yet to materialize, leaving many farmers struggling to sell their harvests.
The associations also raised alarm over the mass entry of cheap and often substandard imported rice into the local market. They allege that some of these imports, repackaged and sold without proper oversight, are crowding out Ghanaian farmers while evading taxes and regulatory checks.
As of late October, farmer groups estimate that over 200,000 metric tons of paddy rice from the 2024 season remain unsold in the Upper East, Northern, and North East regions. With 2025’s rice output projected to hit 1.5 million metric tons, producers fear the glut could deepen, pushing many out of business.
To address the crisis, the coalition outlined a series of demands, including:
- A six-month suspension on all foreign rice imports beginning November 2025.
- Tighter border enforcement to curb smuggling.
- A comprehensive import management policy based on national production levels.
- A government directive requiring public institutions such as schools, hospitals, and prisons to purchase rice and maize from local farmers.
- Immediate funding for NAFCO to purchase surplus produce.
- The introduction of a minimum guaranteed price for rice and maize to prevent farmer exploitation.
While the groups emphasised that the boycott is not a rejection of Farmers’ Day itself, they maintained that celebrating the event without addressing the current crisis would be meaningless when so many livelihoods are at risk.
The coordinated protest has been endorsed by several major agricultural bodies, including 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), and the Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body (GRIB).
The statement, issued by the Committee for the Promotion of Local Rice and Other Commodities, concluded that the boycott will continue until the government meets the farmers’ outlined demands and takes visible action to protect the local agricultural industry.
