Ghana: Poor pineapple yields unsettle farmers
Pineapple farmers in the Brong Ahafo Region, of Ghana are frustrated at the unresolved challenges i…Pineapple farmers in the Brong Ahafo Region, of Ghana are frustrated at the unresolved challenges in the farming business which has seen production yields decline sharply, threatening new investments into the fragile business.
Non-availability of mechanised farming machinery such as tractors; difficulty in accessing subsidized fertilizers; lack of guaranteed market for the produce; lack of quality pineapple suckers; and weak extension services are some of the challenges the farmers say threaten to derail gains made in increasing the yields per acre of pineapple farms in the region.
Currently pineapple exports from Ghana are limited to about 33,600 metric tonnes per year even though the fruit is one of the leading non-traditional exports from Ghana.
The country accounted for about 10 percent of the international pineapple export in 2004, which has since shrank to three percent in 2014 with earnings also cut from US$24 million to US$19.2 million within the same period; a situation farmers argue is a consequence of the unattended challenges that have bedeviled the agric business for several decades.
For many farmers, the greatest challenge now facing the county’s pineapple sector is the inability of producers and exporters to increase production, mainly due to lack of financing for expansion as the production inputs and facilities require long-term and reasonably priced capital for investment by growers and exporters
