A collaboration between the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) and FarmMate Ltd is giving hope to the tomato industry in Ghana after successfully meeting a production target of 240 tonnes in the Upper East Region of Ghana in the first round of the project.
A post made by the FSRP on its official Facebook page said the project is part of interventions with the Ministry of Food & Agriculture, to address the annual shortages and fluctuating prices of tomatoes across the country, particularly during the dry season.
With funding from the Norwegian Government and coordinated by the World Bank, the initiative seeks to “revamp the Ghanaian tomato industry for year-round availability of the produce by way of dry season production.”
Leading Innovation In The Agricultural Sector
Targeting crops such as maize, rice, soya, tomatoes and broiler poultry, the FSRP utilises climate-smart agricultural practices and innovations to ensure good yields with minimal challenges.
As part of the project, farmers receive inputs from FSRP in the form of smart seeds, agro chemicals like enhanced blended fertilizers with micronutrients, organic manure and pesticides (organic and inorganic) and extension advisory services. FarmMate on its part, offers farmers close extension support, monitoring and provides ready market to offtake the harvests.
Tomatoes harvested from the FSRP-FarmMate collaboration are transported mostly to the Greater Accra Region, to major markets such as Agbogbloshie and CMB and premium markets like Palace Mall and Shoprite, within 24-36 hours.
THE FSRP-FARMMATE COLLABORATION
The FSRP-FarmMate venture is leveraging productive private sector linkages with farmers to optimise the production and facilitate timely off-take and marketing of tomatoes for the fresh and value addition (tomato puree) markets.
Currently, the FSRP-FarmMate collaboration covers 200 acres across the country. The Upper East Region is the leading beneficiary with 110 acres and about 100 farmers in the Zebila, in the Bawku West District, Pwalugu in the Talensi District and Tono Irrigation Scheme and Navrongo in the Kasena Nankana District. The other locations are: Ningo-Prampram, Okere, Kwahu East, Akumadan Irrigation Scheme and Asunafo South districts.
Aside from the collaborations with FarmMate, the FSRP Tomato Support Programme is being implemented in 20 Districts in six regions. It involves 1,500 farmers, of which 40% are women.
“So far, the intervention has resulted in yields of approximately 10Tons per hectare and at the end of the 2025 dry season. Yields are expected to reach 15 Tons per hectare. FSRP targets the production of 6000 Metric tonnes of tomatoes by the end of the intervention,” the post on Facebook read.
BACKGROUND
Tomatoes are a major staple in Ghanaian meals, accounting for 40 percent of vegetable expenditures. But only 34 percent of the 1.4 million tons of tomatoes consumed annually in Ghana are produced locally. This results in high imports during the lean season, between December and May.
Several factors account for the challenges the industry faces including “poor-quality seeds; the absence of seeds well adapted to local seasons and climate variabilities; pests & diseases control lapses; poor agronomic/farm practices. Tomato farmers in Ghana record about 20 to 60 percent post-harvest losses due to the lack of innovative storage methods.
The FSRP says these challenges are the cause of the low average yields of 8.3 metric tons per hectare “instead of potential yields of 20 metric tons per hectare; leading to sharp fluctuations between glut and low prices during peak season harvests and shortages during the lean season.
ABOUT FSRP
The West Africa Food System Resilience Project (FSRP) is a Government of Ghana project, funded by The World Bank, coordinated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)and implemented in eight countries (Sierra Leone, Senegal, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Mali).
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture is in charge of the FSRP implementation in Ghana. The project development objective is to increase West Africa’s preparedness against food insecurity and improve the resilience of food systems in Ghana.
