The Ghana Soyabean Farmers and Aggregators Association has bemoaned the drop in both demand and prices of soyabean in the Ghanaian local markets.
The association thus, attributed the drop in demand and price of soyabean to the ban placed on the exportation of the product by the government of Ghana.
The Ghana Soyabean Farmers and Aggregators Association, therefore, called on the government and other relevant institutions to listen to the concerns of the farmers in order to repeal the Legislative Instrument (L.I. 2432) imposing a ban on the export and import of soyabeans.
The association made this known in a press conference. It noted that due to ban on the crop since September 2021, the farm gate price of soyabean has dropped to GHS 400 from the previous price of GHS 600.
Additionally, the demand for the crop has witnessed a significant decline with both local and foreign investors gradually withdrawing their investments in soyabean production.
The Prevailing Difficulties Faced by Farmers
Given the prevailing difficulties faced by farmers and the soyabean industry at large, the Association is of the view that, there is no need for the passage of the L.I. 2432.
The Association is therefore, recommending that a 7 member committee be set up by government to investigate the industry. They also request the government to immediately dissolve a group called license exporters of soyabeans.
“Also, government without delay should repeal the export and import restriction of soyabean regulation 2020 (L.I. 2432) and lift the ban on soyabeans exportation to allow Ghanaian farmers make money from their toil.”
Ghana Soyabean Farmers and Aggregators Association
The Export and Import Restriction of Soyabeans Regulation 2020 (L.I. 2432) passed on October 5, 2020 was to provide a licensing system for exportation of soyabeans in commercial quantities out of Ghana to ensure availability of soyabeans for domestic use to meet local processing requirement for animal production.
The Imposition of the ban, farmers say, has become a thorn in the flesh as government agencies use the L.I. to obstruct soyabeans trade in and out of the country.
Meanwhile, recently, Mr Mohammed Tufero, the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture disclosed that there is a growing unmet market demand and unused processing-export capacity of soya beans in the country.
Ghana’s annual soyabean production potential is 700,000 metric tons covering an area of about 250,000 hectares, while the area under cultivation is about 125,000 hectares.
The country’s combined processing and export gap of soyabeans is 228,000 metric tons, while imports, mainly processed soya meal, amounted to about 200,000 metric tons of grain equivalent leading to an unmet market demand.
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