As Burkina Faso battles with one of the worst growing seasons in recent years, Ghana risks facing a tomato shortage as the former delivers 90 percent of this product's imports. The growing season in Burkina Faso, over the last two years, has been facing challenges owing to extremely sparse rainfall in around 20 of the country's 45 provinces. Experts are predicting that the situation could persist or even worsen in the near future.
Data from the Ghana Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL) indicate that Ghana currently imports 90 percent of its fresh tomatoes from Burkina Faso. Tomatoes currently have a national consumption demand of 800,000 tons per annum. Local production, however, continues to slump, unable to meet half of the consumption targets.
Meanwhile, processing plants installed in Pwalugwu, Techiman, and Wenchi have all been shut down due to the unavailability of quality raw materials at affordable prices. Ghana is estimated to consume more than 100,000 tons of tomato mix annually, apart from fresh tomatoes.
Source: ghanaweb.com