“It’s Quite a Shame We Import What We Can Produce” – President Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has described Ghana’s continued reliance on imported tomatoes as “a shame,” following a recent export ban by Burkina Faso that exposed vulnerabilities in the country’s food supply chain.
Speaking at the Kwahu Business Forum, the President questioned why Ghana -despite having favourable conditions for agriculture – still depends heavily on neighbouring countries for basic food items like tomatoes.
Burkina Faso temporarily halted fresh tomato exports to Ghana, raising fears of a potential shortage on local markets.
“People said it was going to be an emergency… there would be a crisis, a shortage of tomato,” President Mahama noted.
He expressed frustration at the situation, pointing out that Burkina Faso, which lies largely in the Sahel with more challenging farming conditions, is still able to produce and export tomatoes to Ghana.
“Why should that be the case when they even produce in the Sahelian region? We have better climate and conditions for producing tomato here,” he said.
The President revealed that Ghana spends about $3 billion annually on imports, with a significant portion going into food items that could be produced locally.
While acknowledging that some imports are unavoidable, he stressed that many agricultural products – including tomatoes – fall within Ghana’s natural comparative advantage.
“We have the land, we have the water, we have the sunshine… and so it’s still quite a shame that we have to import things like that,” he stated.
In response to the disruption, government has initiated what President Mahama described as a “crisis tomato production” programme.
The initiative involves the development of 60 hectares of irrigated land to enable year-round tomato farming, reducing dependence on seasonal supply and imports.
However, the President cautioned that increasing production alone will not solve the problem.
He emphasised the need to invest in processing capacity to prevent post-harvest losses and price crashes – commonly known as gluts.
“It’s not enough to just grow the tomatoes. We should also put in the processing capacity so that we won’t have tomato gluts,” he explained.
Developing agro-processing, he noted, will ensure surplus produce is preserved, add value, and create more jobs across the agricultural value chain.
President Mahama revealed that agriculture and agribusiness will play a central role in a broader economic transformation agenda being prepared by government.
The Ministry of Finance is expected to present a comprehensive policy framework to Parliament outlining a “new economy” focused on job creation and private sector-led growth.
Under the plan, government will prioritise selected sectors – including agriculture – by mobilising both local and external investment.
“We want to move from just stabilising the economy to creating more jobs… things that generate a lot of jobs,” he said.
The President stressed that the new agricultural push will be driven by the private sector, with government playing a facilitating role rather than directly running projects.
“Government is not going to own or run any of those projects… the private sector will establish and run them,” he said.
While the Burkina Faso tomato ban initially raised alarm, President Mahama suggested it has also served as a wake-up call.
The challenge now, he indicated, is for Ghana to turn that moment into an opportunity by investing strategically in agriculture, reducing imports and building a more self-sufficient and job-rich economy.
