MOFA tells tomato traders not to buy from Burkina Faso this Christmas

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The Ministry of Food and Agriculture is asking tomato merchants in the country to halt from making a trip to Burkina-Faso to purchase tomatoes this bubbly season as neighborhood makers will actually want to supply enough to satisfy their need.

The Tomato dealers and carriers affiliation set out on a strike in February this year because of what the affiliation said was the quiet of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and different experts on burglary assaults on their individuals on different courses while going in for their produce from Burkina Faso just as when getting back to their different stops.

Yet, in a meeting with Citi Business News, Head of Public Relations at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Bagbara Tanko noticed that enough advances have been taken to guarantee dealers gain admittance to quality tomatoes in the right amounts in Ghana this merry season.

We as a whole review the show of the tomato dealers recently. Therefore, the Ministry needed to move forward its exercises through the harvest administrations directorate. Checking out the amounts of tomato seeds that were conveyed countrywide, we are expecting that this year there will be a decent gather and we don’t anticipate that these traders should make a trip the entire way to Burkina Faso. They should examine country.”

“We are especially taking a gander at the assortments that draw in them to Burkina Faso, we are providing them with similar assortments,” he added.

Attached is the full statement

Tomato shortage looms following traders and transporters’ strike

Ghana might soon be experiencing a shortage of tomatoes and a jump in price of the commodity, as a result of an ongoing indefinite strike by the tomato transporters association.

The strike, which began on Sunday, February 7, 2021, according to the Association, is due to the silence of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and other authorities on robbery attacks on their members on the various routes when going in for the produce from Burkina Faso as well as when returning to their various depots.

According to the group, seven of its members have been robbed and shot in less than three weeks while returning from Burkina Faso, leading to the death of two of the drivers. It is for this reason that they have decided to embark on the strike action since efforts to alert the authorities have proved futile.

The National Chairman for the Ghana National Tomato Traders and Transporters’ Association, Eric Osei Tuffuor, in an interview with Citi Business News, stressed that till their issues are addressed, they will not go for tomatoes for the country.

We’ve done so many press conferences and we are waiting for a response. If that is not done, we’ve taken a decision to park our vehicles. Tomatoes will never come to our country. We’ve started it and every Ghanaian will see it because there will be a shortage of tomatoes in our local market. Anyone who will be found crossing the border with a truck of tomatoes will be punished by the Association.”

“Unless we hear from the appropriate leaders. The only thing that we want is protection. The authorities need to protect us. We need police assistance. We’ve written letters to the authorities and it’s up to them to contact us so we sit down and find solutions to our problems,” he exclaimed.