On Thursday, July 9, the Agric Minister, Eric Opoku, appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Assurances, promised Ghanaians that the country will experience a tomato glut in 3–4 months.
According to Eric Opoku, to prevent post-harvest losses, the government is putting in place an off-take system to guarantee a market for farmers, while engaging tomato processors to purchase the expected surplus.
He further disclosed that the government is also investing in solar-powered boreholes to support year-round irrigation, enabling farmers to increase production beyond the traditional growing season.
Eric Opoku stated, “We have put in place a lot of measures and within the next three to four months, the results will be there for everyone to see. This is another big assurance.
We are anticipating a glut of tomatoes in the coming months and are thinking about how we can get processors to off-take from our farmers. We are doing a lot of solar-powered boreholes across the country”.
The Agric Minister expressed confidence that the measures will strengthen domestic tomato production, improve market opportunities for farmers and gradually reduce Ghana’s dependence on imported tomatoes while supporting the country’s broader food security agenda.
However, two months after the Agric Minister promised that Ghana would experience an abundance of tomatoes, his promise appears to be falling flat, as prices of the commodity continue to soar across markets.
Despite the Agric Minister’s assurances of increased tomato production and improved supply, consumers are facing the opposite reality, with the price of tomatoes reportedly rising by as much as 158% this is according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) August 2026 data.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service, during August 2026, Fresh tomato prices surged by 158.3% year-on-year making the commodity the biggest price mover recorded.
Government Statistician, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, presenting the August Consumer Price Index, said the significant increase in fresh tomato prices highlights the varying price experiences of consumers across different commodities.
“Fresh Tomatoes more than doubled in price (+158.3%) while Lime fell 33.7%: the overall Y-on-Y inflation of 5.0% hides very different experiences at the market”, he noted.
The GSS data show that fresh tomatoes recorded the highest year-on-year price increase among the commodities tracked in August.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) signed a landmark Public-Private Partnership aimed at tackling Ghana’s tomato imports by achieving national self-sufficiency.
On Thursday, April 16, 2026, the agreement was signed by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and FarmMate Limited to boost domestic tomato production.
Reports by Graphic stated, “The initiative is expected to expand tomato cultivation from about 1,000 acres currently under FarmMate’s operations to 40,000 acres nationwide. At full scale, it targets the production of 400,000 tonnes of fresh tomatoes annually, supported by processing capacity of 20 tonnes per hour and the delivery of 200,000 tonnes of tomato puree each year”.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, stated, “The implementation of the programme will significantly reduce Ghana’s import dependence, address price volatility, reduce losses during glut periods and ensure availability during lean periods”.
He further noted that the initiative would “ensure guaranteed off-take for farmers, improve incomes, productivity, and confidence to scale, deliver consistent quality supply for traders, processors, and consumers”.
However, the over 158.3% increase in the price of tomato has raised fresh questions about the government’s efforts to stabilise food prices and whether the promised abundance of the staple crop will be materialised.
Ghanaian households and food vendors struggle with the rising cost of tomato; the development has put the Agric Minister Eric Opoku’s earlier assurances under renewed scrutiny.
See the post below:
Fresh tomato prices skyrocket 158.3% in August – GSS.#TIG #TIGNews
— The Independent Ghana (TIG) (@tignews_) September 3, 2026
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