Agribusiness Chamber Pushes for National Agriculture Database to Curb Market Distortions
The Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana has renewed its call for the establishment of a comprehensive national agriculture database, arguing that a data-driven system is critical to protecting local farmers, safeguarding traders and stabilising the domestic market.
The proposal follows recent reports that Ghanaian tomato traders were attacked by insurgents in Burkina Faso while sourcing produce. The incident has heightened concerns about the growing risks faced by traders who travel outside Ghana to secure agricultural commodities, particularly when similar produce is cultivated locally.
Speaking in a media interview, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana, Anthony Morrison, attributed Ghana’s continued reliance on imported agricultural products to structural policy weaknesses. He maintained that these gaps could be addressed through the development of a robust agricultural information system.
According to Mr Morrison, a centralised and well-structured database would provide real-time data on production levels across the country, enabling authorities to make informed decisions on import permits. Such a system, he noted, would not only regulate imports more effectively but also empower local producers, reduce post-harvest losses and prevent market distortions.
“The Chamber has proposed over the last 10 years that, as a country, we have come of age, and there is a need for us to build an agriculture information database where we know how many fields are under production for every commodity.
“So if somebody comes to apply for a permit to import a certain quantity of a product, we use the database to tell the person that if you are importing 50,000 tonnes, the database should be able to tell you that in the next month, these are the quantities that are going to be harvested locally so your 50,000 import permit cannot be approved.
“Because the problem we are having is that by the time crops are harvested, the imported ones too are in and that is where the market disruptions and all the post-harvest losses start happening.”
Mr Morrison stressed that without reliable production data, policymakers are unable to synchronise import volumes with domestic harvest cycles, often resulting in oversupply, price crashes and financial losses for farmers.
Industry players have long argued that a coordinated national agricultural data infrastructure would strengthen planning, improve food security and reduce Ghana’s exposure to external supply shocks. For traders, a predictable and transparent import regime could also minimise the need for cross-border sourcing under risky conditions.
The Chamber believes that as Ghana’s agribusiness sector matures, modern data systems must underpin policy decisions to ensure sustainable growth and competitiveness within the sub-region.
