Ghana’s drive toward sovereign food security has received a massive industrial boost following the unveiling of a 6,000-acre tomato cultivation project by GB Foods Africa.
In a recent high-level consultative meeting the Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Hon. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, hosted a powerful delegation including the Spanish Ambassador, H.E. Ángel Lossada Torres-Quevedo, and GB Foods CEO Vicenç Bosch.
The discussions centered on the expansion of the Gino brand’s local footprint, with the newly secured Afram Plains site serving as the cornerstone of a “backward integration,” strategy designed to end the nation’s reliance on imported concentrates.
“The project is three times the size of GB Foods’ existing flagship farm in Nigeria, which is currently one of the largest in the sub-region.
“For the Ministry, this transition from import-and-can to grow-and-process is the primary litmus test for the Great Industrial Reset, signaling a future where Ghana’s most critical culinary ingredients are protected by domestic supply chains”
Hon. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry
A critical focus of the engagement was the technological leap required to make Ghanaian tomato farming globally competitive. The Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry (MoTAI) noted that while yields in Europe and Asia can exceed 140 tonnes per acre, traditional Ghanaian farming often struggles between five and ten tonnes.
However, GB Foods has already demonstrated that these numbers are not a ceiling but a starting point. Following a successful two-year pilot in Ghana that achieved 20 tonnes per acre, the company projected a doubling of productivity to 40 tonnes in the 2026/2027 season, mirroring their success in Nigeria where yields have hit the 70-tonne mark.
By introducing these high-performance agronomic practices, GB Foods provided the technical blueprint for a broader national rollout, ensuring that the “Gino” name is as much about Ghanaian soil as it is about global quality.
Protecting Local Production
Despite the optimistic yield projections, GB Foods CEO Vicenç Bosch was candid about the existential threat posed by low-cost, low-quality imports. He called for a robust collaborative policy framework, specifically suggesting quota arrangements similar to those successfully implemented in Senegal and Nigeria.
These measures, according to him, would provide a five-to-seven-year “breathing space” for local production to scale without being undermined by the dumping of foreign paste, which currently dominates the market due to artificially low pricing.
“We have left all our pieces and now we are waiting for cooperation to make the next move. It is about developing the industry where we operate. It is not about importing; it is about building local capacity”
Vicenç Bosch, GB Foods CEO
Minister Ofosu-Adjare signaled the government’s readiness to perform its side of the bargain, noting that industrialization is unsustainable if the raw material source remains outside of national control.
“We are committed to ensuring that raw materials are produced in Ghana so that food security can be assured,” She said, emphasizing that the Mahama administration views these quota considerations as a necessary defense of food security nationwide.
The Spanish Ambassador described GB Foods as one of the most reliable agro-business partners for Ghana, highlighting that the 6,000-acre investment will generate significant socio-economic returns for the local population in the Afram Plains.
Beyond the direct jobs created on the industrial farm, the Ministry urged GB Foods to share its technical expertise with smallholder farmers, effectively turning the project into an “outgrower hub,” that elevates the entire sector’s productivity.
As the first harvest from the pilot farms begins in the coming weeks, the Ministry and GB Foods are set to finalize the policy options that will facilitate this expansion. For the Ghanaian consumer, the goal is a higher-quality, locally-grown Gino paste that powers the kitchen while fueling the national economy.
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