The Centre for Women in Agriculture and Nutrition (CWAN), a Non-governmental Organisation based in the Upper West Region has said the stance of the Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto that prices of food products had decreased on the Ghanaian market is not grounded in facts.
The Executive Director of CWAN Mr. Emmanuel Wullingdool explained that a more accurate analysis of the situation should be that inflation on food products was minimal and not deflation, where prices fall and consumers’ purchasing power increases, as suggested by the Minister.
Mr. Wullingdool explained that the rate of price increase on food products on the markets had decreased but the actual prices of products on the market had not decreased.
“We will want to know, what is the rate of increase in the prices of food products? It is true that that rate can be decreasing but it is not true that the prices are decreasing because the two are not the same. Statistics we are getting from Ghana Statistical Service indicates that the rate at which the prices are increasing is slowing down.” he explained. He said the situation is so because farmers are still harvesting their produce.
He said a lot of staples like millet, yams, maize, groundnuts, sorghum, and cowpea are yet to hit the market in their full complement. Should this happen, the prices of these products may stabilize or fall.
Mr. Wullingdool comparing prices of some food products explained that a year ago, during the harvest period, a bowl of maize sold for between 4 and 5ghc. Now, the same bowl he said is retailing between 7 and 8ghc within the Upper West Region.
He blamed the current prices on the high cost of production this year coupled with forces of demand and supply.
Background
It will be recalled that the Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto disputed claims that food prices have skyrocketed. He was speaking at a swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed members of the Irrigation Company of Upper Region (ICOUR). Dr Akoto stressed that statistics available to his outfit do not support the increment claims; thus, “it is a wrong perception.”
Meanwhile responding to the comments by the Minister, the Upper East Regional Director of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Francis Enno backed the Minister for Food and Agriculture Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto’s claim that people’s perception that food prices have sky-rocketed is false. Speaking to Samuel Mbura on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show (DBUE), Mr. Enno said the picture painted by the Minister for Agriculture was true and exact adding that while prices of general goods have increased, prices of food products are falling.
Mr. Enno indicated that because farmers have begun harvesting their produce from the farms, prices have begun to fall from the previously steep prices. Touching on food prices in the region, the Director for Food and Agriculture said the only food product that still has a high price on the markets in the Upper East Region is ‘bambara beans’.
Market women in the Bolgatanga municipality however impugned the claim made by the food and agriculture minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto that food prices have not gone up. According to the women, there has been an outrageous increase in prices of staples on the market in recent times, with most apportioning the blame on high fuel prices and depreciation of the cedis.
A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz| Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
