Upper East Pepper Farmers Appeal for Government Support as Produce Goes to Waste

Pepper farmers at Zaare irrigation farms in the Bolgatanga Municipality are calling on the government to intervene as large quantities of ripe pepper continue to rot on their farms due to the absence of a ready market.

The farmers say they took loans to finance their production and risk losing their investments if urgent steps are not taken to help sell the produce.

An estimated 400,000 acres of land from the Bolgatanga Municipality through the Tono irrigation belt to Vea in the Bongo District are used for vegetable farming, particularly pepper, tomatoes and onions.

Farmers rely on irrigation support from the Irrigation Company of Upper Region using water from the Vea Dam and its canal systems to cultivate crops throughout the year.

However, they report that their produce is not reaching the market, with attempts to sell often resulting in disagreements over prices with traders.

Some farmers lamented that despite shifting from tomato cultivation to pepper due to low patronage, they are still struggling to find buyers. They noted that traders no longer visit the farms, leaving the produce to spoil in the absence of proper storage facilities.

Checks at some farms in Zaare showed peppers drying up in the fields, raising fears of significant financial losses and potentially discouraging farmers from continuing vegetable production if a market is not secured soon.