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N/East Region: Watermelon farmers incur losses as processing factory remains uncompleted
Jun 26, 2020
Watermelon, one of the nutritious fruits grown in Ghana, is currently in abundance in parts of the country.
Although that is good news for consumers, same cannot be said for farmers of the produce.
In the North East Region for instance, where a chunk of the fruit is produced, farmers are worried, as they incur massive losses due to low patronage.
Unfortunately, this has been their story for many years each time the fruit is in abundance.
Nonetheless, the farmers are banking their hopes on the Government’s Watermelon Juice Production Company which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Watermelon cultivation has become one of the major activities for most communities in the North East Region.
Farmers, comprising the youth and women, derive their incomes from this activity. But due to lack of ready market, a lot of the produce usually goes bad, and the farmers lose their investments.
Traveling through the West and East Mamprusi Municipalities, it is common to see how watermelon pods are displayed by the road, begging for buyers. It is even worst on major market days in the area.
The biggest watermelon pod, which could cost between 10 to 20 cedis when out of season, now goes for as low as between 1 and 4 cedis at the farm gate.
On one early morning at Walewale, on a Market Day, some farmers from neighbouring communities who have brought their watermelon to the market to sell spoke to Citi Business News about the impact of the current glut on them.
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