The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana, Anthony Morrison, has urged government to establish a comprehensive national agricultural database to better regulate food imports and protect local farmers from market distortions.
His call follows recent reports that Ghanaian tomato traders were attacked by insurgents in Burkina Faso while travelling to source produce an incident that has renewed concerns about the risks traders face when sourcing agricultural goods outside Ghana.
Mr Morrison said Ghana’s persistent reliance on imported food items, even where local production exists, highlights a structural policy gap that could be addressed through data-driven planning.
He explained that a coordinated agricultural information system would enable authorities to regulate import permits more accurately while strengthening domestic production and stabilising prices.
According to him, such a system would also reduce the need for traders to travel across borders for supplies, thereby lowering exposure to security threats.
The Chamber, he noted, has advocated the creation of the database for over a decade to track production levels nationwide and guide decisions on import approvals.
“We need an agriculture information database where we know how many farms are under production for each commodity,” he said.
Mr Morrison added that if an importer applies to bring in large quantities of a commodity, authorities should be able to rely on the database to determine upcoming local harvest volumes before granting approval.
“If someone wants to import 50,000 tonnes, the system should indicate what quantities will soon be harvested locally so that such permits are not automatically approved,” he explained.
He warned that the current lack of coordination allows imported produce to arrive at the same time local crops are harvested, leading to market gluts, falling prices and post-harvest losses for farmers.
Mr Morrison maintained that building a national agriculture data system would support farmers, improve planning and reduce disruptions across the agricultural value chain.
