The Ministry of Food and Agriculture is setting its sights on ending Ghana’s heavy reliance on vegetable imports with the launch of the Feed Ghana programme.
In an interview on Citi FM, a spokesperson from the ministry revealed staggering figures about the country’s import bill on basic vegetables — and the plan to fix it.
“Every year, we spend GH₵4 billion on the importation of tomatoes from Burkina Faso.
“If Burkina Faso is able to produce tomatoes, why is it that we cannot do it here in Ghana, in spite of the fertile soil that we have and all the agricultural endowment,” he stated, questioning the logic behind the continued dependency.
Tomatoes aren’t the only concern. The ministry highlighted other key vegetables that Ghana continues to import in large quantities.
“We import onion from Niger, which is estimated around GH₵240 million annually. We also spend close to GH₵3 billion on the importation of pepper,” he added.
To tackle this, the government is rolling out a targeted vegetable production initiative dubbed the Eurybia Project.
This new initiative under the Feed Ghana programme will focus specifically on tomatoes, onions, and pepper — the top three vegetables that continue to drain the country’s resources through imports.
According to the ministry, a technical team is already in place and working actively. “We have a team in place.
“The policy document was generated, and we have invited AGRA to be part of it to finalise everything for us,” he disclosed, referring to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, which is expected to support the policy’s implementation.
