Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with FarmMate LTD, a private tomato production and processing company, to scale up domestic tomato production and reduce the country’s heavy reliance on imports.

The agreement, signed at the MoFA offices in Accra, establishes a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in which the government will provide enabling support and coordination while FarmMate takes the lead on implementation, production, and value chain operations. The partnership is set to launch this year.

According to the Ministry, the initiative will expand tomato cultivation from the 1,000 acres FarmMate managed last year to a nationwide footprint of 40,000 acres a fortyfold increase that seeks to fundamentally transform Ghana’s vegetable supply landscape.

Under the terms of the partnership, the programme is targeting the production of 400,000 tonnes of fresh tomatoes annually, supported by processing infrastructure with a combined capacity of 20 tonnes per hour, backed by packhouses, pre-processing centres, and logistics hubs distributed across key growing zones in the country.

Beyond fresh produce, the initiative is also projected to deliver 200,000 tonnes of tomato puree each year. In total, the programme is expected to yield an output of 600,000 tonnes of fresh tomatoes for the Ghanaian market annually.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Food and Agriculture Ministe, Eric Opoku described the MoU as a decisive step toward addressing a long-standing vulnerability in Ghana’s food system. He said the programme would tackle multiple pressure points at once.

“The implementation of the programme will significantly reduce Ghana’s import dependence, address price volatility, reduce losses during glut periods and ensure availability during lean periods.”
Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku

The Minister also pointed to the problem of post-harvest losses, which he said were estimated at around 30 per cent of total production. He explained that the programme aimed to reduce those losses while simultaneously creating guaranteed markets for farmers, a factor he believed would draw more producers into vegetable cultivation.

Over 300,000 Jobs Expected Across the Value Chain

Beyond food security, Mr Opoku stressed the project’s potential to reshape livelihoods across Ghana. He said the agreement would support thousands of farmers and generate over 300,000 jobs across the value chain, with a strong focus on youth training and apprenticeships.

He further stated that the programme would “ensure guaranteed off-take for farmers, improve incomes, productivity and confidence to scale, deliver consistent quality supply for traders, processors, and consumers.”

Mr Opoku also made a direct appeal to Ghanaians particularly students in senior high schools to grow tomatoes and other vegetables in backyard gardens. He argued that broader community-level production would help moderate price increases and ease supply pressures across the country.

CEO Cites $500 Million Annual Import Bill as Key Driver

FarmMate LTD Founder and Chief Executive Officer Sena Amevor used the occasion to lay out the scale of the problem the partnership is designed to solve. He described Ghana’s annual tomato import bill as a national concern that had gone unaddressed for too long.

“The country currently relies on imports valued at approximately $500 million annually to meet domestic needs,” Mr Amevor said, adding that there was an estimated supply deficit of nearly one million tonnes during the lean supply period from December to July.

He also flagged a separate but equally damaging challenge within the local production cycle itself. “The sector suffers post-harvest losses of about 150,000 tonnes between August and November due to limited processing, storage and preservation capacity,” he said.

Mr Amevor noted that FarmMate had been working in this space since 2021, running an integrated tomato value chain model across more than 60 major tomato-growing communities nationwide. He said the model had consistently delivered quality tomatoes throughout the year while equipping farmers with inputs, technical guidance, and guaranteed off-take arrangements.

Under the new PPP framework, he said the company and its partners would scale the out-grower scheme to 40,000 acres.

“This production scale will be complemented by the establishment and operationalisation of combined processing facilities with a total capacity of 20 tonnes per hour or 480 tonnes per day, delivering an estimated 200,000 tonnes of 100 per cent tomato puree annually.”
Chief Executive Officer, FarmMate LTD