Ghana is losing an estimated $600 million annually to tomato imports, a trend the Chamber of Agribusiness says is placing a significant strain on the country’s economy and undermining local production.

According to the Chamber, the heavy reliance on imported tomato products continues to weaken Ghana’s agricultural value chain, despite the country’s favourable conditions for large-scale tomato cultivation.

The situation, the Chief Executive Officer of the chamber, Anthony Morrison, said, reflects deeper structural challenges, including inadequate irrigation, poor storage systems, and limited processing capacity.

Speaking on Channel One TV, he said “For the past few months, the 24-hour economy secretariat has been going around trying to teach organisations how to realign their operations into the 24-hour framework. In the same way, other groups are also calling for private sector investment. But for that to happen, there is a need for the government to halt importation for certain things.”

Morrison stated that Ghana’s heavy reliance on imported tomatoes is economically unsustainable and deprives the country of significant employment opportunities.

“We import almost $600 million of fresh tomatoes annually. We also import processed tomatoes in excess of $800 million annually. There are job losses — $561 million of job losses in terms of opportunities that we have created from where we import from. So we have to stop and block the importations,” he added.

He is, therefore, calling for urgent investment in irrigation infrastructure, storage facilities, and agro-processing plants to help stabilise production and reduce dependence on imports. It believes that targeted interventions could significantly cut the import bill while strengthening food security.

However, President John Dramani Mahama has unveiled a 60-hectare irrigation project aimed at expanding tomato production, supporting farmers, and strengthening food security through improved agricultural infrastructure.