Maize farmers in Ejura, Ashanti Region, have voiced serious concerns over the key challenges confronting their sector.

According to the farmers, major issues include limited access to ready markets, rising costs of farm inputs, inadequate storage facilities, and the lack of large-scale processing and off-take arrangements.

They emphasised that these challenges are exerting immense pressure on farmers and aggregators, many of whom are unable to recover their production costs.

The farmers raised these concerns during a strategic engagement with Maize King, a social food start-up dedicated to maximising value across the maize value chain.

The meeting centred on Maize King’s ongoing partnership drive, which aims to connect maize farmers and aggregators with reliable buyers nationwide.

This initiative seeks to address the escalating problem of surplus maize, which has left many farmers and sellers in financial distress despite bumper harvests.

Maize King reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating closely with farmer groups, aggregators, media houses, and other key stakeholders across the country to raise sustained awareness and attract large-scale industrial buyers as well as individual bulk purchasers.

The company stressed that establishing direct links between farmers and buyers represents the most immediate and practical solution to alleviating the current crisis.

The partnership is expected to deliver immediate to short-term financial relief for maize farmers and sellers by reducing post-harvest losses, stabilising prices, and ensuring that quality maize reaches ready markets.