Tomato prices are expected to fall significantly in the coming weeks as local farmers begin harvesting their crops, Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture John Dumelo has said.
According to him, the increased supply from the ongoing harvest will ease pressure on the domestic market and improve the availability of tomatoes across the country.
Mr Dumelo said the government is also preparing for large-scale dry-season tomato farming from December 2026 to June 2027 to address anticipated supply shortfalls.
He explained that lands have largely been cleared in parts of northern Ghana, with seedling nursing and transplanting expected to begin in October.
In a Facebook post on Monday, September 7, he said the government had provided farmers with solar-powered boreholes and irrigation inputs to support dry-season cultivation.
“The prices of tomatoes should see a sharp decline in the coming weeks as Ghanaian farmers have started harvesting,” he said, adding that the dry-season programme would help “augment the shortfalls” expected next year.
The initiative, he said, is aimed at boosting year-round tomato production and reducing seasonal supply gaps that often trigger sharp increases in prices. Tomato prices recorded the biggest increase among food items monitored by the Channel One Market Price Barometer in August 2026.
Traders have linked the recent surge to reduced rainfall in major tomato-growing areas, which has constrained supply. Tomato trader Mary Okyere said the cost of the commodity had risen sharply compared with the same period last year.
“Last year, a basket of tomatoes like this sold for about GH¢200, but now the same basket costs as much as GH¢700,” she said. She added that a paint rubber of tomatoes, which previously sold for about GH¢50, now costs GH¢150.
While the government expects prices to ease as the current harvest reaches the market, traders remain concerned that low rainfall could continue to affect overall tomato production and supply.
