An In-Field Feel … Top Tomatoes!

As you know, for the past few of weeks I’ve been hitting the fields to check out farmer’s realities and also assist in the implementation of the Agriculture As A Business program.

A couple of weeks ago – after a typical miscommunication in meeting spot seeing as all we have to use as reference points are landmarks are rocks, trees, and random dirt roads – I headed to check out another dry season gardening field with Grace, one of Bongo’s zone supervisors. Basically, because Bongo is so large, it is separated into zones, which are then divided into operational areas, then further into sub-operational areas. Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) are each allocated to a given operational area, and it is the zone supervisor who is responsible for all the AEAs whose operational area lies in their zone. If that makes sense, please read on… if not, sorry! lol

As usual, the journey ends up being an adventurous ride over the rough terrains of Bongo’s mash up of rocks and dirt roads. This ride was even more special since I got to moto through a river that was about knee high. It wasn’t pretty… but let’s just say I made it to the other side with minimal wetness. Grace had organized a farmer group meeting; however, we arrive to quite the opposite, with everyone hard at work. We park our motorbikes beside numerous large tomato crates and head over to the farm owner, who seems to have “JACKPOT” lit up in his eyes. For the first time though, it wasn’t because a ‘White Man’ had arrived to potentially bring them things; but instead the tomato market was at its peak and the crates we saw were from a buyer down in Accra. In what I find out is such an extravagantly fluctuating market, they were receiving GHC 150/crate (GHC 1 ~ $1) compared to a price of GHC 15/crate it could fall to on any given day (I recently confirmed that the price of tomatoes is now GHC 15/crate)! 

It’s no wonder the pressure was on! Women were hard at work harvesting the tomatoes to fill up the crates as quickly as possible; not only was their time crunch due to premium prices, but the scorching sun was starting to beat up the fragile produce. To lessen the damage, I then realize that straw is placed on top of the plants in hopes to protect it from the UV rays of death.

    
    Women Quickly Harvesting the Ripe Tomatos        Field Covered in Straw to Protect it from the Sun

Typically, women spend long hours under the sun harvesting a basin filled with tomatoes. Once filled, they then proceed to a central point which is like a quality & control centre, where the tomatoes are inspected by eye to ensure only good ones make it to the crates. What really impressed me, is that the ‘top tomatoes’ (like the ones you’d see in a McDonald’s commercial) are kept aside; at the end they are placed on the top of the crates to make them more marketable and give their produce more bargaining power! It was the first time I had seen this; and for a marketing fanatic like me, it was the highlight of my field visit.

The quality inspected produce is then carried over to the crates where they will finally reap the rewards the farmers had hoped for. The process continues until all the crates are filled; or until dusk start to fall or the buyer decides to leave. With so many unknowns and so little leeway, a farmer group meeting was the last thing they had on their mind.

Looking at the farming done during the dry season, I am always amazed at the incredible irrigation systems that created manually. They are so intricate in their designs and so well thought out. Water for this farm is used from canals that are connected to a huge dam located close by. There are also a few rivers that snake around the area, allowing farmers with diesel pumps to irrigate at will. Those who rely on the dam, however, are not so lucky; they must pay dam levy fees and wait until the owners of the dam decide to let the waters run.

The day closes as we head to a small town nearby. Along the way we pass some very cool rice fields; do a quick stopover at a drip irrigation site; and finally sit down to enjoy some ‘carb filled field food,’ known as Kusie, along with a refreshing malt.