The sharp decline in maize prices across the Sissala enclave has sparked growing economic concerns, as farmers face mounting financial losses, loan defaults, and the risk of rural economic stagnation.
Once one of Ghana’s most vibrant maize-producing zones, the Sissala area, covering Sissala East, Sissala West, and parts of Wa East Districts is reeling from a market crash that has seen the price of a 100kg bag of maize fall from GH₵500 to just GH₵200, a 60 percent decline within a single harvest season.
The slump has left hundreds of commercial and smallholder farmers unable to recover production costs or service bank loans, with ripple effects threatening local agribusinesses, transport operators, and input dealers.
Mr. Adinan Bajin, a commercial farmer from Welembelle in the Sissala East Municipality, in an interview said that many young farmers who took loans to expand production now face insolvency.
“I don’t know how I will repay the loan I took from the bank and pay my labourers. It’s a near doom situation,” he lamented.
READ ALSO
According to market observers, limited buyer interest and poor price offers have left truckloads of maize unsold in Tumu and other trading centres. Some traders are offering as little as GH₵200 per 100kg bag, a price that fails to cover even harvesting and transportation costs.
Farmers say the crisis is worsened by rising input costs with fertilizer prices hitting GH₵600 per 50kg bag and total production costs exceeding GH₵5,000 per acre.
“We are losing more money by selling,” said Mr. Shaibu Haruna, a farmer from Bujan. “It doesn’t make business sense anymore.”
With warehouses still holding unsold maize from last year, stakeholders fear this season’s projected one million tonnes could go to waste without immediate market interventions.
The Sissala East Municipal Director of Agriculture, Mr. Mahama Salifu, warned that continued market collapse could have “dire consequences for the rural economy,” affecting livelihoods, food security, and financial institutions exposed to agricultural credit.
He called for government support through guaranteed pricing schemes, off-taker arrangements, and export incentives to stabilize the market.
“If the National Food Buffer Stock Company’s GH₵100 million maize purchase programme is rolled out quickly, it could cushion farmers and prevent total collapse,” he noted.
Agricultural experts also point to missed opportunities in agro-industrial linkages. Veterinary officer Mr. Eric Tergu said government’s delayed poultry expansion policy, “Nkoko Nkitinkiti,” could have absorbed much of the excess maize through feed production.
“Farming is the economic backbone of these communities. Without strong market support, we risk losing the youth to migration and other unproductive ventures,” he warned.
Meanwhile, crop diversification options have also faltered. Poor yields of sesame and soybeans, coupled with the government’s ban on soybean exports, have flooded local markets and further depressed prices.
Commercial farmer Alhaji Kasim, who invested heavily in maize cultivation this season, said continued market uncertainty could push many producers out of the sector.
“I spent about GH₵375,000 on seeds alone, excluding ploughing, fertilizer, and labour. If things continue this way, many of us will stop maize production,” he said.
Economists warn that without targeted fiscal and trade interventions, the Sissala maize crisis could trigger a broader slowdown across the Upper West Region’s agricultural value chain, affecting storage firms, transporters, and input suppliers.
For now, the once-promising harvest season has turned into a harsh economic reckoning, leaving farmers and agribusinesses anxiously waiting for a coordinated government response.
