Executive Director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Dr Charles Nyaaba has explained why Ghana relies heavily on neighboring countries, including Niger, for commodities such as onions.
He said that farmers in Ghana are unable to produce to meet the demands of the market, hence the reliance on other countries for the commodity.
Dr Nyaaba said these while indicating that the political instability in Niger would affect the supply of onions to Ghana.
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Tuesday, August 8, he said “In recent times, we get most of our food commodities from our neighboring countries. When you take the various types of vegetables like tomatoes, pepper, and onions, we get them from Burkina Faso and some from Togo. The onions are specifically from Niger. When you take livestock like cattle, goat sheep, we also get them from the same areas.
“So obviously, this is going to have a serious impact on the supply of those commodities in our market.”
He added “In Ghana, it is not the case that we don’t have the potential to produce the same. when you take onions, which we are getting 100 percent from Niger, we also get seeds from Niger.
“…When there is no water you can’t produce onions. So, if you look at the farmers who produce onions, most of them are from the White Volta basin around Bawku, Zebilla, Bolgatanga, they produce the bulk of the onions, but is still highly insignificant to meet our consumption.”