Gari Processors in Abrewankor Cry for Help as Market Saturation and High Costs Threaten Livelihoods
Women who process gari in Abrewankor are facing severe hardship as growing market saturation, falling demand and rising production costs squeeze their once-thriving trade.
Most of the processors are women who depend entirely on gari production to support their families. They say buyers have sharply reduced visits in recent months, leaving large stocks unsold and forcing many to consider abandoning the business.
Ms Salomey Oheniba, who has processed gari for 20 years, explained the situation plainly.
“Sales were good previously, but lately buyers have not been coming,” she told Onua TV News. “Government should intervene to help us get buyers. The education of our children is being affected.”
She pointed out that high costs for labour, transportation, grating, processing and packaging have made the trade far less profitable than before.
Georgina Tetteh Atta, a farmer and processor with three decades of farming experience and ten years in gari production, said she turned to processing to protect herself against unstable cassava prices.
“Most times cassava demand goes down, but gari can be processed and stored for a long time and sold later,” she explained. “Now, with so many processors — 79 in Abrewankor, including eight men — competition is too stiff and sales have dropped badly.”
She added that cassava is now piling up on farms because buyers are not coming forward.
Both women, along with others in the community, made a direct appeal to government: include gari processors in the national School Feeding Programme and let the Buffer Stock Company buy their produce to stabilise demand and provide reliable income.
“We are appealing to government to buy gari from us for the School Feeding Programme to help us cater for our families,” Georgina Tetteh Atta stressed.
Salomey Oheniba echoed the plea.
“I have more than 20 bags unsold. Cassava and labour are expensive, and sales are slow. Many of us are stopping. We appeal for government’s intervention.”
The Chief of Abrewankor, Nene Tetteh Addey I, added his voice to the call. He described gari processing as the main economic activity in the community and urged government agencies to step in with practical support.
The processors also asked for access to modern equipment to cut costs, raise output and improve product quality so they can compete better in a crowded market.
The worsening situation in Abrewankor reflects broader challenges facing many rural women in agro-processing across Ghana, where traditional livelihoods are under pressure from changing market dynamics, high input costs and limited access to structured buyers.
Local leaders and the women themselves hope the government will respond quickly with inclusion in existing programmes and other targeted support to keep the trade alive and protect the families who depend on it.
