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Italian tomatoes ruined my business, so I went to farm in Italy [1]

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Date: 2023-11

Apah Joseph decided to travel to Libya after years of losing money on his tomato farm. He was told he might find work farming tomatoes in Italy – the same tinned tomatoes that had driven the prices of his local tomatoes down. But he never made it all the way. Apah is one of six migrant workers who told us about their experiences of migration for this series. An explanation of how we produced this interview can be found at the end.

Raphel Ahenu (BTS): Thank you for joining me today. Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

Apah Joseph: I’m 33 and I come from Tuabodom, a town in eastern Ghana. I have a wife and two sons.

Raphel: What made you want to leave Ghana?

Apah: My wife and I were tomato farmers, but we were making a loss every harvest. My mother-in-law has a shop in the market, and she told us that tinned tomatoes from Italy and Turkey are now so cheap that no one will pay for fresh local tomatoes anymore. The tinned tomatoes are bad quality, but they don’t perish easily. And many people can’t afford to buy the fresh ones.

My wife and I had had enough, so we started looking for opportunities elsewhere. Many people were making the journey to Italy through Libya, so we decided to follow them.

Raphel: How did you afford the journey?

Apah: My wife wanted to go with me, but we couldn’t afford to pay for both of us. I managed to convince her to say behind with the children. We had saved a little money from our farm, and my brother loaned me some money to cover the rest. He was living in Libya at the time and was also planning to cross to Italy. He agreed to keep working until I got there, so we could travel together.

Raphel: Why did you choose to migrate, rather than investing your savings back into your farm in Ghana?

Apah: The money we had saved was less than the amount we had started with at the beginning of the season. The farm was making a loss, so it’d be like throwing money away if we put it back into the farm. We had spent almost 8,000 GHS (~£540) on fertilisers, pesticides and other materials, and in the end we only made 5,000 GHS (~£340).

We were always living hand to mouth; there was never extra money in case of illness or emergency. My father was unwell at the time, and I couldn’t even help him.

We figured that if the tomatoes imported from Italy and Turkey were selling so easily, then there must be lots of work needed on the tomato farms.

Raphel: What happened when you arrived in Libya?

Apah: It was very tough for me. My brother had warned me about racism there, but I was still shocked by how the Libyans treated us. They are our fellow Africans and humans, but many of them don’t seem to see that. Some people said it was because Black Africans assisted Gaddafi during their war. But those who have been in Libya for long enough say that’s a lie: they were hostile towards Black people even before that time.

Our living conditions were very bad. We only went out once a week, because we were scared we would be arrested for not having the right documents, or attacked for the colour of our skin. We endured this for three weeks before we found someone to take us across the sea.

Raphel: What was the crossing like?

Apah: Our boat broke down in the middle of the journey and people started to panic. There was commotion, people were falling overboard and water started entering the boat. None of us could swim, and we were all just praying for our survival. I really thought it was the end.

Everyone was shouting and screaming, but then we all went quiet. We realised the boat would remain stable if we kept calm – and it did. We ended up drifting around for six more days. Some of the passengers died from starvation and exhaustion, and those of us who were still alive were incredibly weak.

Finally, a patrol boat found us off the coast of Tunisia and we were taken to shore. We were disappointed because it wasn’t where we wanted to be, but we were also happy to be alive.

They arrested us for deportation.

Raphel: Did they deport you back to Ghana?

Apah: Yes. I was told the flight was chartered by the UN. They also covered the cost of transportation back to my village.

Raphel: Would you prefer to stay in Ghana now, after what you experienced?

Apah: Living in Ghana would be ideal if we had work here. I love farming and would be happy to do it here. But no one will buy our produce. If our tomatoes were not being left to rot in the fields, I think most of us would stay and focus on farming.

What I saw in Libya was horrible. If I could look after myself and my family in my own country, why would I go and experience this abuse abroad?

Raphel: Are you thinking about travelling again?

Apah: My brother and I are considering it. We have thrown ourselves back into farming because that’s all we know. But we’re both still making a loss. Unless that changes, there is no future for us here.

We were promised further support when we were deported, but apart from the transportation costs we have not received a penny from anyone. We don’t even know how to contact the people who brought us back.

None of our original problems have been solved – they just dumped us here. That is why we will try again if things don’t improve.

Explore the series:

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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/italian-tomatoes-ruined-my-business-ghana-so-i-tried-to-go-to-italy-migration/

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