Farmerline has refuted allegations made by the Member of Parliament for Builsa South that the company breached a major purchasing agreement with rice farmers within his constituency.
Dr. Clement Abas Apaak, in an article on Farmers’ Day, expressed and bemoaned the stress and struggles rice farmers in the Gbdembilisa Valley go through.
He alleged that Farmerline had agreed with farmers to purchase their produce upon harvest but failed to honour the agreement, leading to major losses for the farmers.
“Farmerline as part of the agreement supplied them with branded sacks. According to the distraught farmers, the company requested that they produce and supply specific quantities of rice with a prescribed moisture content of 15-19% (with 2% impurity level) at an agreed price between GHC3.60- GHC3.80 per kilogram depending on the moisture content level,” Dr. Apaak wrote.
Dr. Apaak alleged that “Farmerline has since failed to take delivery of the rice. As a representative of the people, I’ve made many attempts since yesterday, 30th November, when Chief brought this vexed matter to my attention, to reach representatives of Farmerline to no avail. The numbers of the marketing manager, sales manager and the company’s representative in the northern sector, either don’t go through or no one picks p when my calls go through.”
But the Ghana Country Manager for Farmerline, Worlali Senyo in an update refuted Dr. Apaak’s allegations and explained that “Farmerline reached out to the rice farmers in September when they had already planted, and their rice was at the point of harvest, and they were looking for buyers.”
Mr Senyo added that “Farmerline has already purchased over 25,000 bags of rice paddy from farmers in Builsa South and its environs this harvest season alone. In addition, we are helping with mechanization and warehousing.”
Below is Farmerline’s full update.
Summary of key facts of the issue:
1. Rice farmers in Ghana generally have difficulties finding buyers for rice. This has been a known problem for years.
2. Rice planted in May-July is harvested in Aug-Oct for the northern parts of Ghana, and key issues apart from market access are mechanization, storage, and transportation problems.
3. Farmerline reached out to the rice farmers in September when they had already planted, and their rice was at the point of harvest, and they were looking for buyers.
4. At Farmerline, our mission is to help farmers everywhere make more profit, and our commitment to this mission has never wavered. As part of this mission, we decided to also help as much as we could and find off-takers or buyers.
5. Farmerline has not breached any contractual obligations to farmers. We do not have any contract with the farmers to purchase rice. We are only helping.
6. Farmerline has already purchased over 25,000 bags of rice paddy from farmers in the Builsa South and its environs this harvest season alone. In addition, we are helping with mechanization and warehousing.
7. Farmerline will continue to buy rice paddy that meets our quality specifications from farmers to fulfill contractual obligations with our off-takers/ buyers.
8. We remain committed to our mission to help farmers everywhere make more profit for themselves. We are still engaging farmers and sourcing rice paddy in the Builsa South and its environs. We continue to explore all possible avenues to make sure our commitment to farmers is realized.
Details
Market access, mechanization, storage, and transportation are known challenges with the rice value chain in Ghana. At Farmerline, our mission is to help farmers everywhere make more profit, and our commitment to this mission has never wavered.
We heard about the impending market access challenges facing the farmers after they planted. We engaged buyers and arranged logistics to help them sell and make profit. In the past 2 months, we have purchased over 25,000 bags of rice paddy.
Currently, alternative arrangements have been made to redirect the rice supply, and Farmerline is committed to contributing its quota to ensure farmers get a market for their crops. We wish to, however, emphasize that our contractual agreement is with our off-takers and not directly with the farmers, who are free to supply their rice to any other company or buyers. We are not breaching any contractual agreement with farmers.
Also, Farmerline is well-resourced to carry out our mandate and support for farmers. We have raised over $20 million to date and some of this funding has been announced publicly. (Links shared below) This is purely a demand-supply issue and has no relation to financing. Our track record and history over the past decade across multiple African countries speak for themselves. We will always keep farmers first in everything that we do.
Farmerline values its relationships with all stakeholders and is dedicated to transparent communication.
https://farmerline.co/press-release-farmerline-reaches-out-to-smallholder-farmers-in-afric a/
Happy to provide more information if needed, and I am on standby for any interview or call related to this. We can also provide some referrals of farmers and leaders of the rice farmer association from the Builsa community to speak on this matter from the farmer’s perspective.
—
Worlali Senyo
Farmerline Ghana Country Manager
