Farmers are watching food rot – Group warns of deepening food glut crisis

The Centre for Democratic Movement (CDM) has raised alarm over what it describes as a worsening food glut crisis in Ghana, warning that farmers are suffering massive losses despite recording bumper harvests.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Monday, Convenor of the group, Samuel Doku, said Ghana’s food distribution system is collapsing due to weak coordination, poor storage infrastructure, and ineffective state intervention.

According to him, large quantities of tomatoes, maize, rice, beans and yams are rotting in farming communities because farmers cannot access reliable markets.

“Many farmers across Ghana cannot sell their produce despite having bumper crops, while educational institutions and vulnerable communities continue to experience shortages and supply disruptions,” he stated.

Mr Doku described the situation as a major structural failure within Ghana’s food system.

“This contradiction reflects a major structural failure within the national food system,” he said.

“Farmers are watching maize, tomatoes, rice, beans, yams, and other staples rot at farm gates because there are no reliable markets, no effective storage systems, no guaranteed pricing mechanisms and inefficient state intervention.”

He argued that the crisis is exposing deep weaknesses in agricultural market coordination and food distribution nationwide.

While food is reportedly going to waste in farming areas, Mr Doku said consumers in urban centres continue to battle high prices.

“Consumers continue to pay high food prices while schools continue to report shortages,” he stressed.

“This is not merely an agricultural challenge; it is a governance failure.”

The group warned that persistent losses are discouraging many farmers from continuing farming.

“We are particularly concerned that many farmers are now abandoning cultivation due to sustained losses and uncertainty,” Mr Doku stated.

“Some are reportedly selling farmlands because agriculture is no longer economically sustainable for them.”

According to the Centre for Democratic Movement, the growing frustration among farmers could pose serious long-term risks to food security and national stability if urgent action is not taken.

“No nation secures its future by destroying the economic dignity of its farmers,” he added.

The group also criticised what it described as weak buffer stock management, poor agro-processing development and inadequate feeder roads, saying these challenges continue to worsen the crisis across several farming communities.

The CDM is calling for immediate government intervention to improve storage infrastructure, strengthen food distribution systems, expand agro-processing capacity and improve market access for farmers across the country.

المصدر: MyJoyOnline (GH)