The pineapple sector in Ghana is dying out, their market share has fallen from 10% to 3% in a decade (2004-2014). Lack of financing, high fertiliser costs and bad quality of agricultural inputs are all factors to blame for the situation, and Ghana is still growing the Smooth Cayenne variety when the rest of the world has turned to the MD2 variety.
The Director Genereal of Sea-Freight Pineapple Exporters of Ghana, Stephen Mintah, says that “this situation has put thousands of people out of work”. He underlines that the country now only exports 33,600 tons a year. The amount of companies processing pineapples has gone from 50 in 2004 to 7 today. According to Mr Mintah, if the country does not take necessary action, it could be the end of pineapple farming in Ghana.