A research initiative launched last month to develop high-yielding, disease-resistant tomato varieties is emerging as a direct response to one of the most persistent gaps in Ghana’s agricultural sector, as experts warn that seed quality, not land or irrigation, remains the root cause of the country’s tomato supply crisis.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) in Kwadaso launched the Climate-Smart Greenhouse Tomato project on February 27, 2026. The two-year initiative, funded by the Korean Government through the Korea Partnership for Innovation of Agriculture (KOPIA), aims to identify and demonstrate high-performing, disease-resistant tomato varieties, promote innovative greenhouse technologies, and build the capacity of smallholder farmers across Ashanti, Bono, and Volta regions.
The project targets outputs of between 20 and 30 tonnes per hectare and aims to identify at least five high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties while training 150 smallholder farmers in greenhouse management and climate-smart techniques.
The launch comes as Ghana confronts a wider supply crisis triggered by Burkina Faso’s indefinite tomato export ban in March, which exposed how deeply reliant local markets have become on imported produce. Dr. Frank Ackah, Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), has argued that the structural problem predates the ban, and that Ghana’s inability to grow competitive tomato varieties is the central issue.
Research data shows that Ghana’s average tomato yield stands at approximately 4.30 tonnes per hectare, compared to 10.86 tonnes per hectare in Burkina Faso and a global average of 35.93 tonnes per hectare.
A parallel intervention by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has supported the commercialization of two indigenous open-pollinated tomato varieties, CRI-Kopia and CRI-Kwabena Kwabena, the first locally produced certified tomato seeds in Ghana. The investment of approximately $32,000 is expected to generate 240 kilograms of tomato seed, covering around 7.5% of national demand, with prices projected to be at least 25% cheaper than imported seed varieties currently on the market.
The seed deficit is structural. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) estimates that 70% of tomato seeds used by Ghanaian farmers are extracted from rotten tomatoes, producing fruit with extremely short shelf lives and high susceptibility to disease. The remaining 30% are imported hybrid and open-pollinated varieties that are often poorly adapted to Ghana’s tropical growing conditions.
Past tomato improvement programmes in Ghana have been described as unsystematic, with breeding work that largely ended in 2000 leaving no new certified varieties released for commercial production in the decades since. The CSIR-KOPIA project represents the most structured attempt in years to reverse that trend.
MoFA has not yet responded publicly to calls for a broader national seed development strategy coordinating research institutions, extension services, and farmer training under a single policy framework.
