Stakeholders in the agriculture value chain in the Upper East Region are advocating for institutions such as the Ghana Standards Authority to set standards to regulate the prices of food commodities sold in the Ghanaian markets.
The call comes after concerns from the public that some market queens have inflated the prices of food commodities in the market and thereby causing hikes in foodstuff.
The Upper East Regional Extension Officer, Zimi Alhassan who expressed worry about the arbitrary price of food commodities in the Ghanaian markets advocated for enforcement of regulation of standards “so that a kilogramme of maize or any commodity at the farm gates should have its unique price.”
Mr. Zimi suspects the arbitrary pricing of food commodities by market queens if not fixed immediately will create room for the market queens to continue to extort farmers of their toils.
“Anybody that brings the commodities to the market to sell, knows the prevailing conditions in the country. So, the market queens will just look at the conditions and fix any arbitrary price. And most often, this goes to the disadvantage of farmers and that is our worry. We think that the farmers should benefit from the efforts that they put into producing these foodstuffs. It is clear that the market queens are extorting the farmers. The one who produces is still walking barefooted, his children are not well catered for. But the market queens are building mansions and we are seeing them. Where did they get it [source of income]? Is it not from the toil of the farmer?”
He was speaking to the media during a Regional Agribusiness Partnership (RABP) Platform established in 2020 by the Regional Department of Agriculture through the Modernising Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) programme to facilitate market linkages among key stakeholders in the agriculture value chain.
The Upper East Regional Extension Officer urged farmers to produce food commodities to meet specific markets since the country is gradually turning into market-oriented agriculture.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Bolgatanga|Ghana
