In the Western North Region’s Sefwi Akontombra, a rice processing factory has been inaugurated.
The Sefwi Akontombra Rice Factory was built as part of the One-district, One-factory (1D1F) Common User Facility (CUF), which is an agro-industrial factory run by the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Rural Enterprises Programme (REP).
The facilities, which cost GH6.7 million, can produce 1.5 to 2.8 tonnes of processed rice per hour. Modern parboiling, milling, and packaging plants are among the factory’s processing facilities.
The factory has a backup generator as well as a mechanized borehole for water supply. There is also a fully furnished staff office, a conference room, a laboratory, and a canteen/kitchen. The REP has established five of these CUFs across the country, thanks to funding from the African Development Bank.
As part of his two-day tour of the Western North Region, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo commissioned the factory on Sunday. “The factory will employ about 118 people, including management professionals, factory floor workers, and plantation workers who will work on a nucleus rice farm,” said the factory executive who briefed the President.”
In addition, over 600 farmers from the Sefwi Akontombra District and surrounding communities will be directly involved in the paddy rice supply chain.
Farmer-based organizations and other value chain actors within the selected commodities are expected to own the Sefwi Akontombra CUF.
To ensure the factory’s profitability and growth, the CUFs will be managed by top-notch management professionals and technicians who will be recruited competitively by the Ministry of Trade and Industry through the REP.
