An Agriculture Policy Consultant, Emmanuel Wullingdool is urging the government to fully equip the National Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) so that it would be able to indirectly regulate the prices of food products on the market.
When Mr. Wullingdool spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show, he mentioned that because of the country’s decision to operate a free market system, it may not be possible to directly implement a price control regime. This notwithstanding, if the Buffer Stock is adequately resourced, it would be able to buy huge quantities of food products from the farm gates, and release them when prices skyrocket.
This, according to Mr. Wullingdool, would be able to tame, to a large extent, the racketeering agenda of some traders.
“We have allowed the free market to play in almost every aspect of our national lives. With what is currently happening, it is possible for the government to target some specific products and directly intervene. What prevents the government from resourcing the Buffer Stock company so that in every region, it is empowered in a way that it is able to stock food in some specialised warehouses. In times where the prices have gone up so high, the government is able to release such strategic stores to bring down the price.”
“Consumers are moved by a matter of reduction in the prices of items. If we have the prices of food products at some point coming down, consumers would be patronising such and that can force the market to also respond and reduce their prices because they are also there to make some sales,” he said.
Mr. Wullingdool urged the government to go beyond the imposition of a ban on the export of some selected food products to an actual intervention to ensure the reduction in the prices of food products.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
