Minister of Food and Agriculture Eric Opoku has announced that government measures to boost local tomato production will begin to show tangible results within the next four months, assuring Ghanaians that reliance on imported tomatoes will soon come to an end.
He explained that several interventions have been rolled out to increase domestic output and reduce imports, particularly from Burkina Faso. “We have started tackling the challenge and are determined to change the story. Within the next three or four months, the results will be evident for all Ghanaians to see,” he stated.
Mr. Opoku made the remarks yesterday when he appeared before Parliament’s Select Committee on Assurances to provide updates on commitments made by President John Dramani Mahama in the 2025 State of the Nation Address.
He highlighted government investments in irrigation infrastructure, including the construction of solar-powered boreholes, to support year-round tomato cultivation in major production centres across the country.
He stressed that interventions undertaken regarding the subject included drilling boreholes, installing solar-powered pumps to irrigate farmlands, and fencing farms in areas prone to livestock intrusion to protect crops, adding that irrigation projects were underway in several tomato-growing areas across the country. “President Mahama himself has taken special interest in this, and he says that we should bring an end to importation of tomatoes into this country, and we’ll do just that,” he stated.
Falling prices
Responding to concerns raised by the Chairman of the committee, Dominic Nitiwul, over falling food prices and the impact on farmers’ incomes, Mr Opoku acknowledged that while consumers were benefiting from cheaper food, many farmers were struggling to recover their production costs.
He described the situation as what agricultural economists referred to as “good-bad”, where abundant food production benefited consumers through lower prices but adversely affected farmers because increased supply depressed market prices.
“The bad-good is when there is shortage of food in the system, like we witnessed in 2024 because of the dry spell.
Then food prices started going up.
A lot of people were pushed into abject poverty because of the rising food prices.
“But the farmers who were able to produce little made a lot of money because of the rising prices.
So, for the farmers, it was good, but for the nation, it was bad.
Now we find ourselves as a nation in this situation.
I am a farmer. I am suffering.
But the nation is the beneficiary,” he said.
To tackle the challenge, Minister of Food and Agriculture Eric Opoku said the government has submitted proposals to President Mahama and Cabinet aimed at cushioning farmers against falling prices. As part of the emergency measures under consideration, he revealed that free fertiliser would be provided to sustain farmers’ interest in production while longer-term solutions are pursued through agro-processing and the creation of reliable markets.
Mr. Opoku cautioned that prolonged low prices without adequate support could discourage many from farming. He stressed the importance of expanding processing and value addition to absorb surplus produce and ensure stable incomes for farmers.
Source: Dickson Worlanyo Dotse
