Onion farmers located in Kwahu Kotoso (Kwahu East District) and Kwahu Pitiku (Kwahu South Municipality) within the Eastern Region are requesting that President John Dramani Mahama and the Minister of Agriculture take action to regulate the influx of foreign onions into the Ghanaian market.
The farmers assert that imports from Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, and other neighboring countries have resulted in unfair competition, making it challenging for local produce to find buyers.
In an interview with Adom News, they disclosed that the current season has been exceptionally fruitful, yielding a bumper harvest that is sufficient to meet national demand. Nevertheless, traders and consumers are favoring cheaper imported onions, which has left substantial amounts of local produce unsold.
“Our primary challenge is the absence of a ready market for the onions we have invested considerable resources to cultivate. Many of us rely on bank loans for our farming activities, and we face the risk of losing everything if these onions remain unsold,” one farmer expressed.
They are appealing to the government, through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, to enact measures that would regulate onion imports, particularly during peak harvest seasons, in order to protect local farmers.
Both farmers and buyers have stressed that such intervention would not only protect livelihoods but also help sustain onion farming as a viable business, make agriculture more appealing to the youth, and contribute to efforts aimed at reducing unemployment.
