Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has stated that post-harvest loss is a major factor behind Ghana’s low tomato supply.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, he noted that the government’s strategy to reduce the estimated thirty-percent (30%) post-harvest losses will help to tackle Ghana’s tomato production challenges.
“The second challenge has to do with the management of post harvest losses. Mr. Speaker in this case post harvest losses alone constitute 30% of our produce.
“So if we are reporting total of production of 510,000 tones, 30% have gone waste already, so when you add that 30% you are bringing on board additional 153,000 tones,” he said.
Mr. Opoku highlighted that eliminating post-harvest losses would add to the production 153,000 tons which will reduce the gap from 300 to 140,000 tons.
He further stated that the government has launched the Vegetable Development Project to address the post-harvest losses.
“On assumption of office, after we have diagnosed the challenges, ascertain the root causes of situation, we decided to launch a program called vegetable development project popularly known as “Yeredua,” he stated.
He added that the project, launched June 2025, is anchored on three pillars, seed, irrigation and marketing and will help reduce post-harvest losses in the country to help increase production.
Source: Bertina Ofosu
