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Let’s Stop This Annual Tomato Farmers’
Suicides
A GNA Feature by Samuel Adadi Akapule
Bolgatanga, March 10, Ghanadot/GNA
- In the Upper East Region there is no tomato season that
passes without some farmers committing suicide as a result
of frustration. As a matter of fact it has become an annual
ritual.
One of the tomato farmers, Mr Nsobila Adongo, narrating his
experience to this Writer said he took a loan from a bank to
cultivate tomato and had a bumper harvest but there was no
market for the produce, which was highly perishable.
Many tomato farmers in the Region are in similar predicament
this season. The faint hearted among them resort to
committing suicide. Of late no tomato season passes without
one or two farmers committing suicide.
So far, it is alleged that two farmers have committed
suicide this year even before the harvesting season reaches
its peak. One wonders how many tomato farmers would commit
suicide during the peak period if they failed to get market
for their produce. Something needs to be done to reverse the
trend immediately.
Ironically, tomato traders from the Southern Ghana, who are
known as "Market Queens" refuse to purchase tomato from the
Region but rather cross into Burkina Faso to purchase the
produce.
It is alleged that the market Queens smuggle roofing sheets
and local manufactured drinks (Akpatashie) to Burkina Faso,
where they are in high demand to sell, after which they buy
tomato from there to sell in Ghana at great profit.
Tomato Imports
Meanwhile it is on record that Ghana is the second largest
importer of tomato in the world, second to Germany. Records
at the Ministry of Trade and Industry indicated that in 2000
the Ghana imported about 10 million kilograms of tomato at
8.9 million US Dollars.
This rose to about 12 million kilograms at 9.6 million
dollars in 2001. The year 2002 saw the importation of 16.4
million kilograms at a total cost of 12.7 million dollars.
The European Union was reported to have exported 27,000
tones of preserved tomatoes to Ghana in 2003. Though in
2004, 2005 and 2006 statistics were not available, the trend
suggested that each year, Ghana's tomato paste imports jump
by about 23 per cent. According to the Peasant Farmers
Association of Ghana over 700 tomato farmers have already
been rendered unemployed as a result of the tomato
importation.
Research Findings
A recent research report entitled "Free Trade, Small Scale
Production and Poverty" undertaken in 2008 and facilitated
by Social Enterprise Foundation of West Africa explained
that the inability of farmers to raise funds to repay loans
resulted from both price volatility and competition, which
were characteristic of the increasing market share of
imported tomato paste.
The research noted that the lack of access to credit
facilities and high cost of inputs are the three top
challenges they faced. Tomato price control by market
queens, prevalence of disease attack leading to loss of
yields, and difficulty in accessing land for agriculture
purposes are the other challenges facing the farmers.
The Research finding also indicated that the continued
withdrawal of Government support from the agricultural
sector in the wake of trade liberalization also meant
increased unfair competition faced by small-scale farmers.
The lack of such support further heightens fears of
subsequent loss of market and livelihood as liberalization
is deepened within the context of the ECOWAS Regional
Market.
It recommended that there should be flexible credit
facilities, which should be extended to the women's groups
in the sector, building the capacity of farmers, and the
provision of storage facilities at the major production
centres. There is the need to create the opportunities of
access to market.
In this regards, it is prudent to mandate district
assemblies to link small scale farmers to the Ghana school
feeding programme to serve as a ready market instead of
using, say, imported rice or imported tomatoes.
Indeed it was heart-warming to hear Vice President John
Mahama talk about the need to protect the indigenous sector
of the economy if jobs were to be created and to sustain the
existing ones. In fact the Vice President who is
conventionally the head of the Economic Management Team
should put his feet on the paddle and ensure the
sustainability of Ghanaian livelihoods.
Vice President Mahama’s promised intervention
Meanwhile it has been quite refreshing and a big relief to
tomato farmers in the Upper East Region as the Vice
President visited the Region and interacted with tomato
farmers. He also visited the Pwalugu Tomato Factory and
assured the farmers that the Government would create the
necessary environment to assist the to farmers crop and
market their produce.
"Tomato farmers produce as from next year would not be
allowed to go bad on the farms. Government would put up
effective strategies to address the problem," he told the
farmers.
During an interaction with the Management of the Tomato
Factory, Vice President Mahama was told that the factory had
no funds to purchase the produce of the farmers. The Vice
President said as a medium term measure he would liaise with
relevant agencies in Accra to purchase the tomato from the
farmers to enable them to settle their liabilities to the
banks.
He asked the factory to purchase tomato from the farmers on
credit instead of allowing them to go to waste so that they
could pay the farmers later. He assures the farmers that the
present Government was more committed to the agriculture
sector and would put in place pragmatic policies to help
farmers and encourage others, especially the youth, to
undertake farming and appealed to them to stop committing
suicide.
Mr Mark Wayongo, the Regional Minister, also assured the
farmers that he would liaise with the various institutions,
especially schools in the area to purchase the tomatoes.
The Regional Minister said as a long-term measure, the
District Assemblies in the Region and the farmers themselves
would be encouraged to hold shares in the factory as from
next year.
In fact it is envisaged that if this perennial problem of
the tomato farmers were solved, it would help engage people
especially the youth, who either migrate or are used by
other selfish people to commit criminal acts, in productive
ventures.
Indeed it would be one of the best means to help to bridge
the gap between the North and the South as pledged by the
present Government.
It is, therefore, the hope that the Government would live by
its promise by ensuring that the farmers' problems were
solved once and for all to avoid the numerous suicide
associated with the frustration farmers go through in the
Region.
Most of the farmers interviewed told this Writer that they
would be very much appreciative if the Government helped to
resolve their plight, explaining that tomato farming was one
of the major sources of livelihood for farmers in the Upper
East Region.
It is of the view of this Writer that Government should
intervene and regulate the tomato trade by opening new
tomato markets in Accra; Kumasi; Sekondi; Cape Coast and
other major towns to offer alternate source of tomato supply
and break the stranglehold of Market Queens. At present five
pieces of averaged-sized tomatoes sell at one Ghana Cedi in
Accra. The problem lies at the farm gate - marketing centre
interface of the tomato production chain.
Tomato farmers should also be advised that committing
suicide is not the best. They should be educated to
appreciate the fact that becoming indebted to a bank is a
normal occurrence in business, and that a person’s inability
to service his or her debts to a bank in Ghana is not
punishable by death.
This matter is serious. How many tomato farmers should die
before a solution is found to their plight?
GNA
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