Tomato farmers in the Upper East Region are complaining about poor prices and the lack of market for their produce. The conditions, they say, are the same as previously pushed some of their colleagues to commit suicide in the recent past. The farmers say the non-functioning of the Pwalugu Tomato Factory has contributed to the situation. Former National Best Farmer, George Stanley Alokodongo, who speaks for the farmers, says things are getting out of hand because market queens now prefer to buy from neighboring Burkina Faso. That situation, he said, was because unlike farmers in Burkina Faso who could afford to sell their produce cheaply because they are subsidised, Ghanaian farmers enjoyed no subsidy but need to break even. “Farmers are afraid to go into tomato production because you cannot produce without knowing how much you are going to sell your produce…before you can produce something you should be able to know who wants to buy, at what price does he want to buy before you can go into production,” he said. The Extension Officer for the Pwalugu operational area, Osman Bawa Issaka wants the government to abolish the ECOWAS protocol so that market queens will stop buying from Burkina Faso. He argued that the protocol was adversely affecting Ghanaian farmers, pushing some of them to commit suicide. “You have certain areas we hear that people have taken DDT, they consume these things and leave the world just because of frustrations,” he said. Explaining the rationale for the suicides, Mr Issaka said, “they do it because they invested heavily, they have gone to sell properties like cattle which they can’t return to the family hold.” The Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition, a local NGO in the area says poverty levels in the area could be reduced if the government intervenes and ensures that the Pwalugu Tomato Factory remains open. He said farmers must be given improved tomato seeds to boost the production. Source: Joy News/Ghana