Rubber traders and aggregators in Ghana are raising alarms over worsening challenges in supplying raw materials to local processing factories.
They warn that the current situation threatens both the industry’s future and the livelihoods of rural farmers.
Insiders say most local processors lack their own plantations and depend on external suppliers to meet production demands, yet continue to marginalize the very traders they rely on.
Traders allege they are being sidelined in favour of direct sourcing from farmers, with little regard for their role in the value chain.
Yirenkyi Ansah, a rubber trader, described several key issues: “We traders don’t have a fixed trading price compared to what processors enjoy,” he said. “The processors fail to pay us on time. Sometimes, it takes up to a month before a trader receives payment. And they’ve still not given us a trader price, which is a great concern.”
He called for a formal dialogue between traders and processors to address these disparities: “I wish we could sit in a dialogue with the processing factories and negotiate,” he said. “So that they will win, and we will win. It shouldn’t be a situation where they win and we lose.”
Industry stakeholders agree that resolving these challenges through fair trade practices, pricing transparency, and mutual respect is essential to rebuilding trust and stabilizing Ghana’s rubber industry.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/Hajia Fati Karim
