The case of tomato in Ghana: Processing

dc.creatorRobinson, Elizabeth J. Z.
dc.creatorKolavalli, Shashidhara
dc.date2010
dc.date2024-10-01T14:05:17Z
dc.date2024-10-01T14:05:17Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T14:59:10Z
dc.descriptionProcessing of highly perishable non-storable crops, such as tomato, is typically promoted for two reasons: as a way of absorbing excess supply, particularly during gluts that result from predominantly rainfed cultivation; and to enhance the value chain through a value-added process. For Ghana, improving domestic tomato processing would also reduce the country's dependence on imported tomato paste and so improve foreign exchange reserves, as well as provide employment opportunities and development opportunities in what are poor rural areas of the country. Many reports simply repeat the mantra that processing offers a way of buying up the glut. Yet the reality is that the "tomato gluts," an annual feature of the local press, occur only for a few weeks of the year, and are almost always a result of large volumes of rainfed local varieties unsuitable for processing entering the fresh market at the same time, not the improved varieties that could be used by the processors. For most of the year, the price of tomatoes suitable for processing is above the breakeven price for tomato processors, given the competition from imports. Improved varieties (such as Pectomech) that are suitable for processing are also preferred by consumers and achieve a premium price over the local varieties.
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/154976
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/91214
dc.languageen
dc.publisherInternational Food Policy Research Institute
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.sourceRobinson, Elizabeth J. Z.; Kolavalli, Shashidhara. 2010. The case of tomato in Ghana: Processing. GSSP Working Paper 21. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154976
dc.subjectagriculture
dc.subjectprocessing
dc.subjecttomatoes
dc.subjectrainfed farming
dc.subjectvalue chains
dc.subjectrural areas
dc.titleThe case of tomato in Ghana: Processing
dc.typeWorking Paper

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