Rice Factory Opens At Sefwi Akontombra

A rice processing factory has been commissioned at Sefwi Akontombra in the Western North Region.
The GH¢6.7 million facility has an output of between 1.5 tonnes and 2.8 tonnes of processed rice per hour.

The processing plants at the factory include modern parboiling, milling and packaging plants.

The factory has a standby generator and a mechanised borehole to supply the facility with water.

It also has a fully furnished office accommodation for staff, a conference room, laboratory and a canteen/kitchen. 

The Sefwi Akontombra Rice Factory was constructed under the One-district, One-factory (1D1F) Common User Facility (CUF), which is an agro-industrial factory established by the Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) under the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

With funding from the African Development Bank, the REP has established five of these CUFs nationwide.

Potential

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo commissioned the factory last Sunday as part of his two-day tour of the Western North Region.

Executive at the factory, who briefed the President, said the facility would employ about 118 people, including management professionals, factory floor workers and plantation workers who would work on a nucleus rice farm.

In addition, over 600 farmers from the Sefwi Akontombra District and neighbouring communities will be directly engaged to supply paddy rice for processing.

Locations

The 1D1F CUF factories are located in Savelugu (rice processing); Nkran Nkwanta in the Dormaa West District in the Bono Region (rice processing); Akontombra in the Sefwi Akontombra District in the Western North Region (rice processing); Dompim in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality of the Western Region (Oil Palm processing); and Nsuta in the Sekyere Central District in the Ashanti Region (maize processing).

The Sefwi Akontombra CUF is expected to be owned by farmer-based organisations and other value chain actors within the selected commodities.

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 to ensure the profitability and growth of the factory.