Executive Member of the National Tomato Traders and Transport Association Agyenim Boateng has slammed the government for not developing the tomato sector.

According to him, Ghana loses 100 million dollars because of high import of the commodity into the country.

Figures from the Chamber of the Agribusiness Ghana indicate the global tomato industry is projected to be worth 11 billion dollars.

In 2019, it was worth eight billion dollars out of which Africa had 9.4 percent and Europe had 47 percent of Global trade. In Africa, Ghana lies 10th behind Kenya and Egypt with a production capacity of 380,000 metric tonnes and consumption capacity is at 480,000 tonnes unfortunately 80% of the tomato consumed in Ghana is imported from Neighboring Burkina Faso.

Ghana further imports 120,000 of processed tomatoes pushing the consumption rate to almost 800,000 tonnes per annum.