Nzema: Some rubber farmers in the Nzema enclave have appealed to the Tree Crop Development Authority (TCDA) to license and regulate the activities of stakeholders in the rubber production value chain to protect the interests of all players, particularly farmers, traders, and aggregators.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Yirenkyi Ansah, speaking on behalf of his fellow farmers, highlighted concerns regarding local rubber processing factories exploiting the unregulated sector to pay unfair prices for raw materials supplied to them. This issue has negatively impacted farmers' livelihoods, leading some to sell their farms to illegal miners.
Mr. Ansah noted that most rubber processing factories in Ghana lack sufficient plantations to meet their production capacity and heavily rely on farmers for supply. Despite this dependency, processors are often unwilling to provide reasonable prices that cover the plantation costs, rendering the rubber trading business with local processors unprofitable. Other challenges mentioned include delayed payments by local processors and inadequate processing capacity for raw materials.
He explained that a lack of cooperation and compromise with local processors has driven farmers to prefer trading with exporters of raw rubber. The farmers are urging the TCDA and relevant authorities to take steps to regularise the rubber production sector, ensuring benefits for all stakeholders and fostering industry growth. They call on the Tree Crop Development Authority to carefully license and regulate the industry to protect all actors, including farmers and traders, whose activities influence the economic life of rural communities and directly impact production.
