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In their bid to make more revenue from their power generation, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has dealt a severe blow to Ghana�s efforts to be self-sufficient in rice production. Currently, ECG has cut off power supplies to two important irrigation projects in Dahwenyah and Weija because farmers cannot pay an accumulated bill of GH�40, 000 owed the power company. In addition to that, ECG has advised the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) to discard their 75 Kilowat/hr pumps and import lower ranges to replace them. At the time Ghana�s rice import bill has risen to about half a billion dollars, government could also not find money to assist farmers pay the bills in order to continue producing the food that has arguably become the staple of almost every household in Ghana. Currently, a 50 KG of local rice sells between GH� 53.53 in Accra and GH� 65 in Koforidua while a 50KG of imported rice sells between GH� 66 and GH� 55 at the same market centres. According to Secretary of the farmers� association, Isaac Fianko, electricity bills charged by ECG was so outrageous that the farmers could not find that kind of money to pay. He explained that ECG used a maximum demand procedure to calculate their bills so that as their consumption rate exceeded a certain threshold, they were made to pay tariffs even for times they were not pumping water. �This is what caused the tariffs to reach that high level�, said the secretary who spoke to the Financial Intelligence(FI) during a mid-year Review Workshop on Rice production organized by the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) in conjunction with Actionaid in Accra last week. He said the ECG metres were adjusted so much that whatever reading appears on the metre any time the pumps were used kept multiplying because of the Maximum Demand system applied by ECG. For that reason the 150 hectare farm which was producing 1500 tones a year had to be shut down in 2003, and all efforts to get government to come to the aid of these rice producers have been met with ad-hoc solutions. A similar fate also befell the Weijah project on a 240 hecter land producing a bigger figure than the one at Dahwenya. Deputy Chief Executive Officer at GIDA, in charge of Agronomy, Mr. Ohemeng told the Financial Intelligence (FI) that the action and advice given by the ECG are so irresponsible and must be disregarded if Ghana must attain food security. He explained that the 75 KW/H pumps at Dawhenya and Weija are able to pump the required level of water in a short time for the farms, while the lower capacity types being recommended by ECG take a whole 12 hours to pump just enough water for use. Mr. Ohemeng expressed disgust at the fact that ECG�s recommendations had surprisingly been accepted by the Ministry of Agriculture and are being implemented, with the importation of some 30 to 40 KW/H pumps into the country. �The whole ECG recommendation is a joke, because anybody who knows about irrigation would understand that those smaller capacity pumps are not used on such large scale irrigation projects�, the Deputy CEO noted, adding, it is just a waste of resources. He wonders why electricity which is produced with tax payers� money would not be utilized in a manner that would ensure food security for the same tax payers, noting that the output of the pumps must be balanced against the running costs. Sources at Akomadan, Tonoso and Kpandu Torkor where these new lower KW/H pumps have been installed told the FI that the pumps are just lying idle without being used. One source at Kpandu Torkor even told the FI that the pump has even been flooded and so is currently out of use. Meanwhile, the deputy C.E.O in charge of Engineering, B.S Owusu, confirmed to the FI that GIDA had sent a memo through two former ministers, Courage Quarshiegah, and Ernest Akorbor Debrah to cabinet urging government to subsidise the tariffs for the farmers so that they can continue producing. Mr. Owusu explained that the farmers have expressed their readiness to pay the normal tariffs, and so want government to take up the excess that comes as a result of the charges on days that water is not pumped. This matter the FI learnt got to cabinet and there was a lot of foot dragging until the food crisis of 2008 struck the nation. GAWU and Actionaid have been advocating an Agric Development Fund (ADF) for the country. Projects Coordinator of GAWU, Glowen Kyei-Mensah, believes that if the ADF were in place part of it could be used in subsidizing power supply for the farmers so as to ensure continuous and reliable rice production in the country. Anna Antwi of Actionaid argues that this fund is important since currently less than 4% of the total national budget is allocated to the agric sector although it provides about 60% of Ghana�s population with jobs.