This aims to keep cross‑border supplies flowing and reduce farmers’ losses amid regional insecurity.
The Ghanaian government engages Burkinabè authorities to seek protection for Ghanaian tomato traders who operate across the land border, aims to keep supply chains open and reduce losses for farmers and merchants.
Ghana and Burkina Faso maintain long‑standing cross‑border commercial links and both belong to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional organization that Ghana has used historically to coordinate diplomacy and security matters.
Background and context
Ghana and Burkina Faso share a porous land border and substantial informal trade flows in agricultural goods, including tomatoes, which are a widely produced and widely consumed horticultural crop in West Africa. Cross‑border tomato trade shows strong seasonality and high post‑harvest losses for fresh fruit, and traders frequently move produce informally across frontier markets.
Burkina Faso experienced two military coups in 2022, on January 24 and September 30, that removed successive presidents and brought different military leaders to power. Since about 2015 and accelerating after 2018–2020, the country faces a jihadist insurgency and broader insecurity that affects many regions, displaces populations and disrupts commercial routes.
Vulnerability of traders
Informal cross‑border traders of agricultural produce in West Africa commonly face extortion, harassment and the effects of checkpoints or insecurity, risks that reduce incomes and raise losses for smallholders and merchants. Disruptions to transit corridors typically affect prices and the availability of fresh produce in destination markets.
Who would act and how
Ghanaian institutions that normally conduct such engagement include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (for diplomatic démarches), the Ministry of Trade and Industry (for trade facilitation), Ghana’s diplomatic missions abroad and security services for protection arrangements. Typical diplomatic measures can include formal requests for security assurances, arrangements for secure transit corridors, joint patrols or temporary trade facilitation measures coordinated with regional actors such as ECOWAS.
If Accra’s engagement leads to durable arrangements, traders could see fewer route interruptions and lower post‑harvest losses, which would support incomes for farmers and stabilize supplies in urban markets. Conversely, if security in transit corridors remains weak, short‑run price spikes and market shortages remain likely, with adverse effects on low‑income consumers and smallholder producers. Diplomatic activity also affects bilateral relations and regional cooperation mechanisms; a formal accord or cooperative security measure could strengthen ECOWAS‑level engagement on trade and movement of people.