The Ghana National Tomato Traders and Transporters Association have appealed to the Ministries of Trade and Industry and Food and Agriculture to reintroduce the quota system to help regulate trade in tomatoes in the country.
Addressing a meeting of members in Accra, National President of the Association, Eric Osei Tuffuor explained that the quota policy allows for convenient and accurate data gathering on the tomato trade at the farm gate, market and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
It also reduces attempts by greedy traders to keep crediting and dodging payment but allows registered traders opportunities to earn their lawful livelihoods.
Mr Tuffuor said reintroduction of the quota system will also prevent post-harvest losses and enhance food safety on the market.
The Association commended the Accra Metropolitan Assembly for partly addressing some of the challenges facing members by putting tomato traders in one market to foster unity and ensuring self-monitoring as well as sanitizing the trade while protecting the investments of traders producers and transporters.
In a related development, farmers in five regions of Northern Ghana have appealed to government and other stakeholders to design more effective interventions to enable them to improve on crop yields.
They called for a ban on tomato importation and revisit initial plans to revamp tomato factories in the country, subsidies cost of farm inputs and extend the Planting for Food and Jobs programme to cover all year round.
This was contained in the Agro Policy Performance Barometer Report of the Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition, presented at a policy dialogue on gender responsiveness to the Planting for Food and Jobs programme in Tamale.
Coordinator of the Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition, Ibrahim Akalbila, said the report shows that female farmers had little access to information about government’s agricultural policies as well as the use of improved seeds and subsidized fertilizers.
