Agriculture Minister Eric Opoku has announced plans to expand Ghana’s domestic tomato cultivation from roughly 1,000 acres piloted in 2025 to 40,000 hectares this year, backed by a private-sector processing partnership and the enrolment of more than 400 secondary schools as producers, as the government intensifies its response to the supply crisis triggered by Burkina Faso’s export suspension.
Speaking on the current market situation, Opoku described supply pressures as manageable, saying a pilot programme run across more than 80 farming communities last year has produced sufficient confidence among participating farmers to now justify a major scale-up. “Having worked with us for a year, they are now convinced,” he said, noting that early scepticism among smallholders dissolved once government demonstrated its ability to link farmers reliably to buyers.
The expansion target is significant given the structural gap Ghana faces. Ghana’s annual tomato demand stands at around 800,000 metric tonnes while domestic production during peak season reaches only an estimated 368,000 to 420,000 metric tonnes, a shortfall that Burkina Faso had historically filled. Burkina Faso formalised a complete ban on fresh tomato exports on March 16, 2026, to protect its own growing processing industry, arriving at the worst possible moment — Ghana does not harvest tomatoes domestically between December and May, leaving the country almost entirely reliant on imports during the lean season.
A new private-sector facility is central to the ministry’s near-term response. Farm Mates, a private company, has established a processing and distribution centre near Accra’s Legon Bypass combining a fresh produce market with a tomato puree production unit. Unlike conventional paste, the puree is minimally processed and carries a shelf life of over one year, enabling the government to build a buffer against seasonal supply gaps. A 200-acre farm linked to the facility is due for harvest within days, with output expected to flow directly into the market.
The ministry is also mobilising non-commercial producers at scale. Under the Feed Ghana Programme, more than 400 senior high schools across the country have been enrolled to begin tomato cultivation primarily for their own consumption, reducing institutional demand on the commercial market. Seed inputs and farming supplies are being distributed to households, institutions and smallholder farmers simultaneously.
Opoku framed tomato farming as an open commercial opportunity, saying that any operator with the capacity to mobilise could enter the space. The ministry’s approach combines fresh supply expansion, long-life processed products and decentralised household production in a deliberate strategy to reduce the country’s structural dependence on cross-border imports.
The execution challenge ahead is substantial. The Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana estimates that roughly GH¢250 million worth of locally produced tomatoes rot annually due to the absence of cold storage, accounting for approximately 45 percent of domestic production, a post-harvest loss rate that processing capacity alone cannot resolve without parallel cold chain investment. Ghana’s tomato output is also concentrated between June and November, leaving the dry-season months largely without domestic supply and creating the precise conditions that make the country vulnerable to disruptions from neighbouring exporters.
The ministry’s 40,000-hectare target for 2026 represents the most specific production commitment the government has made since unveiling its National Tomato Production Strategy in February, which set a five-year goal of cutting tomato paste imports from over $100 million annually to $20 million by 2030.
