A February 2020 research by Statistica indicates that mobile connection penetration rate was estimated to reach 140 per cent in 2020 alone. Yes, Ghana is chalking strides in internet penetration and the liberalization of the telecommunications market, but there are outstanding shortfalls when it comes to rural and underserved communities.

Upon a visit to a farming community at Akyem Tafo Nobi in the Abuakwa North Constituency of the Eastern Region, farmers feel helpless as the trade of foodstuff with buyers across other towns truncate due to poor data and call service.

Joy Business' Charles Ayitey visited the township and saw first-hand the extent to which foodstuffs have been left to rot at the edge of the streets as farmers are disconnected from their buyers all due to bad data and call service.

It’s morning – the start of a busy farming day for Daniel Tetteh popularly known at the Nobi Village of Atsem Tafo Nobi in the Eastern Region as Dademantse – King of the farmers.

"Hello, Hello, can you hear me – this Network is very bad, hello, hello…"

Now, this is the cost of living here at Atsem Tafo Nobi. With no network, farmers are cut from all forms of mobile telephony - a troubling development amid the Coronavirus Pandemic when information is very key.

"The network is very bad. It’s really been a worry to us. It’s been this way for a long way, one of the farmers told the reporter.

A farming community of about 700 people, the movement of cash from the farming gate to the market centres in Accra is very crucial. The only option for farmers here is online mobile money transactions. With connections so bad, they travel miles to send cash to off-takers in Accra.

Desperate to place a simple phone call, these farmers have two options…wandering through the farm for a stable connection or climbing trees. I watched this farmer – in his early 40s - fall off a tree as he tried placing a call.

He was determined to get up on the tree for that call which could only last for a few minutes. This is the experience many others go through in this farming community.