20/10/2012
Tomato Traders and farmers from Ghana and Burkina Faso yesterday brainstormed over issues militating the marketing of the product in the two West African countries.
At the crucial meeting in Accra, they called on governments of both neighbouring countries to ratify the draft trade protocol on tomatoes, to enable producers and traders benefit from the cross-boundary trade.
The General Secretary of Ghana National Tomato Traders and Transport Association (GNTTTA), Madam Lydia Afoley Anum told the 22-member delegation from Burkina Faso and their Ghanaian counterparts that draft trade protocol on tomato, endorsed by the Ghanaian and the Burkinabe governments, was the “key to the solution and probably an end to all such meetings”.
She observed that civilized trade is all about fairness and mutual benefits, explaining that “Fair trade means mutual benefits accruing to traders and farmers, as well as haulage operators and retailers. That alone will culminate in a stake in which everybody, including the customer, has optimum satisfaction and mutual benefits”.
According to her, however, it is only the transporters, intermediaries and the retailers on the markets who are benefiting from the tomato trade.
On his part, the Head of 22-member Burkina Faso delegation, Dr. Mathias Zigane, who is also an Agro-Technocrat, disclosed that his country was very much advanced in the review of the protocol, and measures were being taken for its ratification.
He hoped that in the near future the protocol would open the door for the finalization of other agreements for many agricultural exports such as onion, cashew nuts and cowpeas, among others.
The Communications Manager of GNTTTA, Mr. Christiana Randolph Lartey told the Business Chronicle that the Burkina Faso delegation was also in Ghana, primarily to find out the response of traders and the consumption public of tomato products.
He added that he suspected that “the Burkinabe are compelled to come down because of the price of tomatoes, which is at its lowest in the market, since they started (1998) trading with their Ghanaian counterparts.
The Ghanaian traders have been complaining about problems associated with the tomato-cross-border trade including armed robbery attacks, excessive levies by the Burkinabe interior authorities and physical fights over the price of tomatoes.
Additionally, experts on trans-border trade issues observed that since 1998, Ghana and Burkina Faso have been engaged in a vibrant agro trade, especially tomato trade.
Officially, Burkina Faso admits huge benefits in terms of revenue and gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the tomato sector, while Ghana, the oasis of peace in Africa, gets revenue through tomato economic activities.
Today, however, there are serious complaints from either side, regarding losses on investments. Also, there are issues of security, framework and morality do***ng the trade, which political authorizes of both ECOWAS nations admit.
Nearly one and a half decades into this vibrant bilateral trade, which has recently attracted Benin and Togo, there are still challenges of standards and modernization, regarding haulage, packaging, financial systems, pricing and security.
Amazingly, the wooden crates are still the style; haulage is by old rickety trucks with women disadvantaged when their cargo suffer delay and spoilage due to accidents. Ghanaian traders in the tomato trade still carry bundles of currencies in their braziers and skirts into farm gates in Burkina Faso.
While, farmers in the Upper East of Ghana where tomato farming is their predominant activity have been forced out of the trade due to such circumstances. As majority of them are committing suicides during tomato bumper seasons.
