The government has launched a national tomato initiative targeting the production of about 100,000 tonnes in the 2026/27 season as part of efforts to reduce Ghana’s dependence on imported tomatoes.

The Ghana Tomato Self-Sufficiency Initiative (GHATSI), launched at Anloga in the Volta Region on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, aims to establish a reliable year-round domestic supply system while creating jobs and supporting tomato processing.

Launching the initiative, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, said the first phase would cover more than 10,000 acres, equivalent to about 4,000 hectares, across 35 districts in 10 regions and more than 100 communities.

He said the initiative would eventually be scaled up to produce approximately 400,000 tonnes annually from more than 40,000 acres, with up to 200,000 tonnes potentially processed into tomato puree and other value-added products, subject to processing capacity and market demand.

Opoku said Ghana faces an estimated domestic tomato supply deficit of about 300,000 tonnes during the off-season between December and July, despite significant quantities of locally produced tomatoes being lost during peak production due to poor coordination among farmers, aggregators, processors and markets.

“This situation exposes consumers to unstable prices, deprives farmers of dependable markets, transfers employment opportunities to other countries and places avoidable pressure on our foreign exchange resources,” he said.

“Every cedi spent on imported tomato is a Ghanaian job exported. This cannot continue to be our permanent reality,” he added.

GH¢20,000 financing package

Under the initiative, Pan-African Savings and Loans, a member of the Ecobank Group, will work directly with participating farmers.

The farmer enhancement package is estimated at GH¢20,000 per acre and will cover inputs, land preparation, soil testing, technical assistance, insurance and other production requirements.

Opoku stressed that the arrangement was not a free-input programme but a productive input-credit financing scheme, with the financing to be settled through a structured off-take arrangement after harvest.

FarmMate Ltd, the private-sector implementation partner and committed off-taker, together with other contracted buyers, will connect farmers to fresh markets, hotels, restaurants, institutions, processors and eventually export markets.

A packhouse will also be developed at Anloga to support the sorting, grading, packaging and marketing of tomatoes, while participating farmers will receive multi-peril crop insurance.

Year-round production and jobs

GHATSI will use a staggered national production calendar to ensure tomatoes enter the market throughout the year.

Northern production areas, including Talensi, Bolga East, Kassena-Nankana Municipal, Bawku West and Savelugu Municipal, are expected to begin seeding and nursing in September, targeting harvests from December into January. Other areas in the Upper West, Ashanti, Eastern, Bono, Volta and Greater Accra regions will subsequently enter the cycle.

Opoku said Phase One could support more than 150,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities, including approximately 50,000 year-round jobs. At full rollout, the projections rise to more than 600,000 opportunities, including about 200,000 year-round jobs.

“The gainful employment African youth are seeking for is in the womb of agriculture,” he said, adding that intentional investment in agriculture could help repel poverty.

Government will also rehabilitate and expand irrigation schemes, including solar-powered borehole-irrigated land banks.

“The dry season must become a productive season, and irrigation must increasingly be treated as productive national infrastructure,” he said.

Opoku said GHATSI would be judged by production, farmer incomes, imports displaced, reduced post-harvest losses and sustainable jobs.

“GHATSI must not become another successful launch followed by silence. It will be judged by what happens after today: whether farmers produce and are paid, irrigation and financing reach the farms, inputs arrive on time, extension officers provide the required support, crops are insured, packhouses operate, processing expands, imports decline and jobs are created,” he concluded.