The role of local entrepreneurs is crucial to Ghana’s drive towards economic progress, says the President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr. Affail Monney. "Although we tend to have a lot of ideas, we hardly manage to put them to practice," he said when he launched a new brand of local rice "Odeneho Brown Rice" in Accra on Saturday. Mr Monney said whilst the common cry was for government to create jobs, "such innovation is needed to create employment for idle youth, and also improve upon the general economic well-being of the nation." "Such innovation always raises new hope that our local industries still hold seed for the country's economic growth," he added. Mrs. Comfort Aniagyei, Managing Director of Ghana Made-manufacturers of the Odeneho Brown Rice, jointly launched the product with Mr. Monney and said the key to achieving economic emancipation lay with government expanding the policy of substituting imports with local products through industrialization. She said whilst the rice sector remained a highly viable one, there was a lot that needed to be done to make it attractive to people who wanted to venture into it. "If local rice production could be made more lucrative, many more people would involve themselves in rice growing and one could imagine how many more people would be employed locally, and the benefits to the economy." Mrs. Aniagyei expressed the hope that government and all other stakeholders would come together and strengthen the local rice industry, "because the industry holds great promise for our economy". Mrs. Leticia Osafo Addo, Chief Executive Officer of Samba Foods, said the country imported 450 million dollars worth of rice, which formed 70 per cent of its total rice consumption. "It would be of great help to our economy if this bulk came to Ghana." She said it was however important to improve upon the quality of locally produced rice, because that also determined the level of patronage. "People also should be sensitized on the uses and advantages of consuming brown rice," stated Mrs. Addo. Ghana Made is a company with the sole aim of promoting made in Ghana products.