Rex Asanga, the MCE for Bolgatanga has said that plans have been put in motion to address the many problems between pepper farmers in the Municipality and traders from the Greater Kumasi area who visit Bolgatanga to buy pepper.
The farmers have said that when the traders visit the Municipality to offtake pepper, the traders offer ridiculously low prices without any room for negotiation. Forced to sell, the farmers continue to record losses year after year.
To help resolve the challenges, the farmers carried their produce to markets in the Greater Kumasi area and were forced to sell it at very cheap prices, again, because the traders refused to buy.
The farmers in a complaint to the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly said they were warned by the traders not to carry the food products to the markets in parts of the Ashanti Region but should rather only allow the traders to travel to Bolgatanga for purchase.
Smelling something fishy, swifts reports were made to the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly. Mr. Asanga, speaking on Day Break Upper East, continuing from where his predecessor left off, a letter inviting the traders for a meeting has been written through the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly.
The meeting is expected to discuss the way forward and also discuss fair prices for both farmers and traders.
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Mr. Asanga said while the letter written weeks ago is yet to be responded to, he is confident that the matter would be resolved so that farmers can profit off the investments they make.
A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
