The Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana has renewed its call on government to establish a comprehensive national agricultural database, arguing that such a system is critical for regulating imports, protecting local farmers, and preventing market distortions.
The appeal, made by Chief Executive Officer Anthony Morrison, comes in the wake of disturbing reports that Ghanaian tomato traders came under attack by insurgents in Burkina Faso while travelling to source produce—an incident that has spotlighted the dangers local traders face when forced to cross borders for agricultural commodities.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, February 17, Morrison warned that Ghana’s persistent reliance on imported agricultural goods—even when local production is sufficient—exposes a structural policy gap that only data-driven planning can address.
“The Chamber has proposed over the last 10 years that, as a country, we have come of age, and there is a need for us to build an agriculture information database where we know how many fields are under production for every commodity,” Morrison stated.
He explained that such a system would enable authorities to make informed decisions on import permits based on actual local production data, rather than allowing imports to flood the market regardless of domestic harvest cycles.
“So if somebody comes to apply for a permit to import a certain quantity of a product, we use the database to tell the person that if you are importing 50,000 tonnes, the database should be able to tell you that in the next month, these are the quantities that are going to be harvested locally so your 50,000 import permit cannot be approved,” he said.
Morrison noted that the current lack of coordination means imported goods often arrive precisely when local farmers are bringing their harvest to market, creating price collapses and exacerbating post-harvest losses.
“The problem we are having is that by the time crops are harvested, the imported ones too are in and that is where the market disruptions and all the post-harvest losses start happening,” he added.
According to the Chamber CEO, a well-structured agricultural information system would serve multiple purposes: regulating imports more effectively, empowering local producers, stabilising market prices, and crucially, reducing the dangers traders currently face when forced to travel outside the country for supplies.
Beyond immediate market concerns, Morrison emphasised that a national agriculture database would strengthen Ghana’s food security planning and create a more predictable environment for all players in the agricultural value chain—from smallholder farmers to large-scale traders.
The proposal adds to growing calls for policy interventions to protect Ghana’s agricultural sector and reduce the country’s exposure to external market shocks and security risks.
