DAILY NEWSFLASH – Yam farmers in the Oti Region have raised concerns over what they describe as exploitative buying prices offered by traders from Accra, Kumasi and other major cities.
Checks by SK92News at the Tokurano Yam Market show that fresh yams, including the popular Puna variety, have started entering the market in large quantities, with prices varying according to size and quality.
However, the major concern for farmers is not just the local selling price, but the huge difference between the farm-gate price in Oti and the final retail price in major markets like Accra.
According to the farmers, some traders travel to Oti and negotiate aggressively, buying large quantities at very low prices. The same produce is then transported to Accra and Kumasi where it is sold at significantly higher prices.
For instance, farmers disclosed that 110 pieces of yam are currently being bought for between GH¢500 and GH¢1,500 depending on size and quality – a price they consider too low for the labour and investment involved.
Meanwhile, reports from Accra indicate that a single tuber of yam can sell for GH¢50 or more depending on size and market conditions.
This development has left many farmers asking: Why should the farmer who toils to produce the yam receive so little, while traders who transport it make a much higher margin?
Farmers say they are not against traders making profit, but they are calling for fairer pricing and stronger bargaining power to ensure that the value created from Oti’s yam production benefits those who actually cultivate the crop.
As yam production continues to increase in the Oti Region, stakeholders say the conversation must move beyond how cheap yam can be bought, to how fairly farmers are being rewarded for their labour.
SK92News is raising the concern: Oti produces the yam, but who is making the real money from it?
_Source: SK92News_
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