1D1F: Akufo-Addo commissions GHC6.7 million Sefwi Akontombra rice factory
The factory is a state-of-the-art facility with the capacity to produce between 1.5 and 2.8 tonnes of processed rice per hour
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo commissioned the GHC6.7 million Sefwi Akontombra rice processing factory on Sunday (5 September 2021), during his two-day tour of the Western North Region.
The rice factory is a state-of-the-art facility, with the capacity to produce between 1.5 and 2.8 tonnes of processed rice per hour.
The processing facilities installed at the factory include modern parboiling, milling and packaging plants.
The factory has a standby generator to cover power shortfalls and outages, as well as a mechanised borehole to supply water.
It also has fully furnished office accommodation for staff, a conference room, laboratory and canteen/kitchen.
The Sefwi Akontombra rice factory was built under the One District, One Factory programme. It is a common user facility (CUF), meaning a factory consisting of a building equipped with machinery to turn agriculture produce into finished products.
The Sefwi Akontombra CUF was established by the Rural Enterprises Programme (REP), an initiative by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The factory, President Akufo-Addo learned, will employ roughly 118 people, including management professionals, factory floor workers and plantation workers, who will work on a nucleus rice farm.
In addition, over 600 farmers from Sefwi Akontombra District and neighbouring communities will be engaged directly to supply paddy rice for processing.
With funding from the African Development Bank, the Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) has established five of these CUFs nationwide.
The 1D1F CUF factories are located in Savelugu in the Northern Region (rice processing), Nkran Nkwanta in the Dormaa West District of Bono (rice), Akontombra in the Sefwi Akontombra District of Western North (rice), Dompim in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality of the Western Region (oil palm), and Nsuta in the Sekyere Central District of Ashanti (maize).
It is expected the Sefwi Akontombra CUF will be owned by farmer-based organisations and other value chain actors in the selected commodities.
The facilities 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 to ensure the factory’s profitability and growth.
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