By Kingsley Mamore, GNA
Dambai (O/R), Feb. 27, GNA – Tomato vendors and transporters in the Krachi East Municipality of the Oti Region are urging the government to adopt Burkina Faso’s prison farm model to boost local tomato production and help reduce prices.
The area is currently experiencing a severe shortage, with five medium-sized tomatoes selling at GHS20 and four small ones going for GHS10. The situation has been attributed to a reduction in tomato imports from Burkina Faso due to security concerns.
Several tomato vendors who spoke with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) appealed for the adoption of a system similar to Burkina Faso’s, where prisoners work on State farms to increase food and vegetable production while earning sentence reductions.
Madam Bernice Oheagbu, a tomato vendor at the Dambai Saturday Market, proposed deploying non-violent inmates to State farms to support large-scale tomato cultivation and stabilize prices.
She suggested the need for structured production targets, proper supervision, and skills training for participating inmates to ensure the effectiveness of such a programme.
According to her, this model could ease the pressure of tomato shortages and equip prisoners with valuable agricultural skills, rather than keeping them idle while the State incurs high maintenance costs.
Madam Oheagbu further recommended close collaboration between the government, agricultural experts and the Ghana Prisons Service to develop a sustainable framework, stressing the importance of strong supervision to avert security risks.
Mr John Boateng, another vendor, highlighted Ghana’s fertile lands and abundant water resources, saying the country has the potential for year-round tomato cultivation.
He noted that with efficient irrigation systems and modern techniques such as drip irrigation, Ghana could match Burkina Faso’s productivity levels.
Citing Burkina Faso’s success, Mr Boateng explained that their consistent, all-year irrigation systems make them a major regional supplier of tomatoes.
He maintained that Ghana could replicate this success by harnessing water bodies such as the Akosombo Dam, the Volta Lake, the Oti River and other available resources.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah / Lydia Kukua Asamoah