Tomato farmers in the Upper East Region are warning of an imminent shortage of the produce for a lack of patronage. The farmers have always complained that tomato dealers from the various market centers are refusing to buy their produce because they get a better bargain from farmers in neighboring Burkina Faso. According to them they are, as a result left with very little option but to sell their produce to the Northern Star Tomato Factory which buys at very low prices. Repeated calls for government to intervene and save the farmers’ business from collapse so far appear not to have made any difference. The Vice President of the Vegetables Farmers Association in the region Ahmed Bogobire said the market women were frustrating the tomato farmers. He suspects the women go to Burkina Faso not only to buy tomatoes but also sell other items. Managers of the Northern Star Tomato Factory meanwhile, maintain the price they offer the farmers was mutually agreed on. According to its Managing Director Kwabena Darkwah the factory is in full gear and ready to buy all the tomato the farmers produce. Source: Joy News/Ghana