In efforts to ameliorate the suffering of Ghanaians as a result of the increasing food prices, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has today, November 11, 20222 begun selling foodstuff at their premises to civil and local government workers.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the sector minister earlier emphasized the government’s plan to transport food from the rural production areas to Accra in Parliament on Wednesday. According to him, the Ministry’s data reveals significant price differences between rural and urban locations owing to the costs within the value chain such as production, distribution, and marketing.
Indeed, transporting foodstuff from their production sites in the rural areas to the cities is costly more so, considering the current cost of fuel. That notwithstanding, the prices at which some foodstuff vendors are selling their goods are exploitative.
The pilot exercise at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture will take place today despite criticism from some stakeholders and members of the public. For instance, Mona Quartey, a former Deputy Minister of Finance criticized the idea of selling farm products at the Agriculture Ministry as unsustainable.
A former Research Scientist of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) (CSIR), Professor Roger Kanton, also said that the initiative was not feasible. He asked if there was a constitutional change in the mandate of the government to now engage in haulage, marketing, and food distribution.
Will this move by the government improve the prices of foodstuffs on the market? Will it deter many people from overpricing their goods?
I think the government should focus on more sustainable ways of reducing inflation on food prices such as putting in regulatory measures on the pricing of foodstuff and increasing remuneration for farmers. There must also be a drastic cut on importation and rather investments should be made to encourage more exports.
Priscilla Fumadorh
Priscilla is an entrepreneur and a creative communicator who loves to communicate through writing. She is passionate about national economic issues and does not miss a chance to offer her opinions on them for the good of the country.