There’s something certainly important about practicing what you preach, because it gives you the impetus to influence others.
As you may be aware, there’s a national campaign currently ongoing on the need for Ghanaians to consume locally produced rice to grow the Ghanaian economy.
And that campaign was triggered by a single individual who happens to be the CEO of Citi FM and Citi TV, Samuel Atta-Mensah.
At Citi FM and Citi TV, employees have been treated to a lunch of various rice meals solely made from locally produced rice as part of the campaign.
For many employees who until now hadn’t consumed local rice before, they were really excited and eager to have a feel of the nicely looking rice dishes, provided by Ghana’s self-appointed Rice Ambassador, Samuel Atta-Mensah, CEO of Citi TV and Citi FM.
And so there was a bit of a rush to the kitchen as the early bird catches the worm.
Some of the staff members, obviously tasting local rice for the first time, could not believe that this was produced right here in Ghana.
“I feel like this tastes more organic. So I really don’t know why we’re not patronizing local rice, Melissa Aouad, Host of Citi TV‘s 30 Minutes and Arts and Soul said.
“I think with this one it’s probably because it’s not perfumed, but it’s locally made and you feel the taste is natural as compared to the imported ones. I think this rice is good and healthy for the body as well” another staff member said.
After having a feel of the tasty rice, some staff members encouraged the public to consume locally produced rice.
Kwaku Aduamah Ansah, also a broadcast journalists at Citi said, “I am really enjoying the food. It’s very sumptuous. If I hadn’t been told this is local rice I wouldn’t have known. I must say that we all need to support and patronize Ghana Rice”.
The excitement and satisfaction the staff gained from eating the locally made rice dishes got some to pledge their loyalty towards the consumption of local rice often.
Kwame Dadzie of Citi Showbiz also said “You feel the natural taste of this one compared to the other ones we eat which may have some additives. This tastes very natural and it’s nutritious as well”.
“You are guaranteed the full nutritional value and the quality that you should expect to get from your food. So if you do not taste this then you’re denying yourself” Sixtus Dong Ullo, a Broadcast Journalist at Citi said.
Sports Journalist at Citi TV and Citi FM, Fentuo Tahiru, said “The days of thinking that local rice was mixed with stones and you have to pick them yourselves are long gone. Now they’re very well-packaged and you can tell right from this meal that I am enjoying that there’s no single stone in it. It’s smooth, it’s nice and it’s long, so get Ghana Rice”.
Minna Dablu and Frema Adunyame, broadcast journalists at Citi TV and Citi FM, praised the quality of the rice and urged Ghanaians to dispel all the misconceptions about local rice”.
The campaign, which has been taken a notch higher by Citi News, already fits into a Citi FM campaign dubbed ‘Operation Feed Yourself, which encourages farming for food security and economic gains.
It has been approved and supported by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ministry of Information.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture, says it is in talks with 20 major importers of rice into Ghana to get them to rely on locally produced rice for both domestic consumption and export.
Institutions like the Ghana Buffer Stock Company have stepped in to support some rice farmers in the Upper East Region after Citi News reported about how their investments were going waste due to lack of a ready market for their produce.
Other media houses have also joined the campaign, as a conversation on the consumption of local rice is also ongoing on both traditional media and social media, and this is hopefully to reduce the importation of 330 million dollars’ worth of rice annually into the country.