The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, John Dumelo, has called for decisive action to halt the smuggling of food products from neighbouring Togo into Ghana.

According to him, curbing such activities will help strengthen local food production and encourage the consumption of Ghanaian products rather than relying on imported goods.

Mr Dumelo made the remarks during a discussion on JoyNews on Monday, March 9, as part of a conversation on Ghana at 69 and reclaiming the country’s food sovereignty. He emphasised the importance of producing and consuming locally made food to reduce Ghana’s dependence on imports.

The Deputy Minister alleged that a significant portion of food items entering Ghana unofficially, particularly pasta, originates from Togo. He said this undermines domestic production and contributes to the country’s ongoing challenge of import dependency.

Mr Dumelo stressed that curbing these smuggling activities is critical to supporting local farmers and ensuring that Ghanaian households have greater access to locally produced food.

“A few days ago, I was in Tema with the President, and they were commissioning a pasta factory, and the statistics were that Ghana is behind Togo when it comes to the consumption of pasta. But we all know that that might not be the case. The case might be that Togo imports a lot, but it is mostly smuggled through the borders and comes to Ghana, and we consume it, and those are cheaper imports,” he said.

He further argued that strengthening the country’s manufacturing and agricultural sectors will require strict measures to address smuggling along Ghana’s borders.

“If we want to really strengthen our manufacturing base, we want to really consume what we grow, then one of the things we need to do is to close our borders so that these smuggling bandits just stop what they are doing,” he stated.