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Priced out by imports, Ghana’s farmers risk death to work in Italy

Farmers in Ghana say cheap Italian tomatoes are ruining their businesses. Many have travelled to seek work abroad

Priced out by imports, Ghana’s farmers risk death to work in Italy
An officer gives instructions to migrants waiting to board a plane at Lampedusa airport, Italy | Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images | All rights reserved
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Adu Poku was a farmer in Ghana. It was all he’d ever known. The maize, okra and tomatoes he grew had brought in enough money to pay for his wedding, and to prepare for the birth of his twins. But then everything changed.

A mining company came and took over most of his land, and what he grew on the patch he had left was no longer enough to make ends meet. Cheap tomatoes from Italy had flooded the market and driven prices down. Most people in the area were struggling, and few could still afford to eat the more expensive local produce. If Adu kept farming, he was afraid he was going to starve.

He heard that people were travelling to Italy, and there they were earning enough to keep their families alive back in Ghana. He decided he had no choice but to try his luck as well. What happens after such a decision is made is the focus of this series.