News:
July 10, 2026
Accra, Ghana – The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has assured Ghanaians that the ministry is implementing comprehensive measures to address the country’s tomato supply challenges, with visible results expected within the next three to four months.
Speaking before the Government Assurance Committee on Thursday, Minister Opoku expressed confidence in the government’s interventions to reverse the current tomato shortage and reduce reliance on imports.
“We have started working on that challenge, and we are bent on reversing that story,” Opoku stated. “We are putting in place a lot of measures. Within the next three or four months, the results will be out there for Ghanaians to testify.”
The Minister outlined several initiatives currently being rolled out across the country, including the installation of solar-powered boreholes to support irrigation for tomato farmers. He explained that these systems pump water directly to farmlands, addressing the critical challenge of water access during dry seasons.
“We are doing a lot of solar-powered boreholes around the country. We drill the boreholes, put the solar power on them, and pump the water to the field,” Opoku explained. “In some areas where we anticipate livestock intrusion, we provide fencing so that we can secure the land for our farmers.”
The government is also providing irrigation infrastructure across multiple regions, including sister hectares in the north and other areas such as Kpando and the Afram Plains. The initiative aims to create an enabling environment for farmers to increase production significantly.
Opoku emphasized that the interventions extend beyond infrastructure, with the government actively connecting farmers to buyers to ensure a ready market for their produce.
“The buyers are available to update from them. And so give us some three or four months, and the results will be out there for the Ghanaian people to see,” he assured.
The Minister revealed that President John Mahama has taken a special interest in the tomato value chain and has directed the ministry to work toward ending tomato imports into the country.
“President Mahama himself has taken special interest in this, and he says that we should bring an end to the importation of tomatoes into this country. And we’ll do just that,” Opoku declared.
The government is also exploring processing opportunities to help farmers add value to their produce, which would reduce post-harvest losses and stabilize market prices.
“We are anticipating a glut of tomatoes in the Ghanaian market in the coming months, and we are thinking about how we can get processors to update from our farmers,” the Minister added.
When asked about the timeline, Opoku noted that while the assurance of results in three to four months may seem ambitious, the government is committed to delivering on its promises.
When asked by committee members about which communities would benefit from the interventions, the Minister indicated that his office has compiled a comprehensive list of target areas.
“I’ve asked some of them to come because we have their list. It is when they come, we take them through the list, then they know which communities are being visited,” he said.
Minister Opoku concluded by assuring the committee and the public that the government is committed to remedying the tomato supply situation “once and for all” through sustainable agricultural interventions.
Dominic Shirimori/ Ghanamps.com