By King Amoah
The recent decision by Burkina Faso’s military president Ibrahim Traoré to lift the ban on tomato exports to Ghana should not be seen as a goodwill massage for Ghanaians.
Instead the ban lifted should be considered as a wake up call for Ghanaian leaders t strategise measures to revive the country’s agricultural sector.
This sentiment is voiced out by Mr. Osafo Mumuni a retired Agricultural Officer based in Kumasi in the Ashanti region.
Mumuni, current a cocoa farmer was expressing his deep disappoint in the country’s agricultural sector observed that the government under President John Dramani Mahama would not view the Burkina Faso military president’s action as a cause for celebration but rather regard it as an indictment of its agricultural policies and priorities.
The actions of President Traoré Mumunni started, speak volumes about how we manage our own agricultural sector.
Mumuni asserted that it is a humbling moment for Ghana that another nation who is even facing its own challenges has to step in to provide staple foods supprt while we are capacity to produce such farm prodce ourselves.
The retired agriculturalist highlighted Ghana’s inherent strengths in agriculture saying that we are blessed with rich and fertile a lands in addition to labor.
We possess the potential to produce tomatoes and other food products in abundance to not only meet our domestic needs but also to export.
Yet due to alleged mismanagement and laziness our lands lie underutilized while we rely on imports from desertland like the conditions in Burkina Faso.
Mumuni questioned the rationale behind Ghana’s preference for importing food items.
According to him it is a senseless a paradox, and asked why do we refuse to utilize our own lands for our own benefit instead of opting to import every food product from the foreign countries.
Mumuni stressed that dependency on others drains state coffers and undermines our economic self sufficiency.
He directly addressed President John Dramani Mahama and his appointees by questioning them about their reaction to the eased import restrictions.
If President Mahama and his appointees were genuinely happy to hear that the ban on tomato imports has been lifted were they able to muster courage to demand an apology and compensation from the Burkina Faso military president, Mumuni boldly asked.
This is because many Ghanaians suffered while others lost their lives at the borders when they were attempting to procure tomatoes from Burkina Faso.
This is not a small matter; it speaks to how our nation is perceived and how little we value the safety and economic well being of our citizens, the retired agriculturalist noted.
Mumuni stressed the urgent need for seriousness to end what he termed as dirty politics and lip service.
He believes that these practices are actively eroding the nation’s development.
As a nation we must adopt a more serious approach to issues since we cannot afford to continue with hollow pronouncements that fail to translate into tangible progress especially in a vital sector like agriculture.
The retired agriculturalist urged Ghanaian leaders to view the lifting of the ban as not just a mere diplomatic courtesy but as a critical catalyst for action.
Mumuni emphasized that our leaders must reset the agricultural sector with a renewed commitment and strategic vision.
It would be through only better planning where we can truly ensure that agricultural benefits are reaped by all Ghanaians to make us proud as a nation capable of feeding itself.”
