A just drive at trimming imports

Ghana’s efforts at reducing the importation of goods was boosted yesterday when a processing and packaging factory with the capacity to process 25,000 tonnes of tomato was commissioned in Tema by President John Mahama.

Conserveria Africana Group, importers of Gino and Pomo brand tomato paste, invested some $50 million for the project.

The commissioning of the factory will, other things being equal, cut down the importation of tomato consumed in Ghana by about 36 per cent. The country’s tomato consumption is estimated at a little over 400,000 tonnes.

It is expected that the company will invest up to GH¢50 million in the next two years to be able to employ about 600 Ghanaians.

Many attempts at tomato processing in the country have suffered various upsets for many reasons, principal among them being the non-availability of raw tomato to feed the factories arising out of disagreements over the guaranteed price of tomatoes.

The fate of the GIHOC Cannery at Nsawam, the Northern Star Tomato Processing Factory at Pwalugu and the GIHOC Tomato cannery at Wenchi, which brought hope to many Ghanaians but which are all now defunct, is a case in point.

This may explain why the new plant, rather than using tomato grown in Ghana, chose to import tomato paste for processing.

While welcoming the new factory, the Daily Graphic’s expectation is that in the nearest of times, it will encourage local farmers to go into tomato production to make the establishment of the factory more meaningful.

We are, however, happy to note that the company has plans to develop a sustainable raw material base by procuring from Ghanaian farmers in the next two years. We are also delighted to learn that the company also intends to take advantage of the tomato needs of the continent and use Ghana as the base for the export of processed tomato to other African countries.

A number of local industries have set the pace. Accra Brewery Limited and Guinness Ghana Limited have already started using locally grown maize and sorghum in their breweries, a step which has boosted the local cultivation of the crops.

With Ghana spending a whopping GH¢1.5 billion annually on the importation of commodities such as vegetable oil, fish, poultry, tomato, rice and others, many of which can easily be produced locally, it must be a relief that this factory has been commissioned.

We look forward to the sustained operations of this plant and hope that many more will be encouraged to set up in the country to make efforts at encouraging local production more meaningful.