Farmers, aggregators and other stakeholders in the agriculture sector are worried about the pace at which prices of grains, cereals and other legumes are rising. The stakeholders say the prices of these food items may continue to rise to a point where the prices may be beyond what the average Ghanaian may be able to afford.
The Director of Operations at Antika Farms who doubles as the Executive Council Member for the National Seed Trade Association-Ghana (NaSTAG), Seidu Abdulai Mubarik speaking to A1 Radio at Wa disclosed that the presence of foreign nationals, Indians and Burkinabés, on the Ghanaian market to purchase the grains, cereals and legumes like soyabeans are to blame for the current prices hikes.
Mr. Mubarik explained that these foreign nationals, who are buying the food items in quantities, offer beyond the asking prices of the farmers. “Burkinabés have comes in [to buy food items] so early for the maize. The Indians came in very early for the soyabeans. For instance, when they go to a farming community and they [the farmers] say a bag is a 150 GHC, they [the foreign nationals] will give the farmers 180 GHC. When you [a Ghanaian aggregator] struggle to meet the 180 GHC to buy, they quote 200 GHC. They keep driving up the price for them to be able to get more,” he explained.
He said because of the current situation, farmers are unwilling to sell to Ghanaian aggregators in the hopes that they [the farmers] will sell the produce to the foreigners at a higher price.
Mr. Mubarik called on government to quickly address the concerns of pricing of the produce on the market otherwise, local aggregators may lose out which will, in turn, affect food supply in the country.
A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz| Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
