The Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Tanko Bagbara, has highlighted the pressing need to tackle inefficiencies along the food value chain.
He advocated that collective efforts are needed to address challenges impacting negatively on supply of food from the farm gate to retail centres, such as poor road networks, high transportation costs, and inadequate storage infrastructure.
Recognising the complexity of the challenge, he emphasised the necessity for collaborative efforts with other ministries, including, transport, roads and highways, MoFA as well as donor partners and industry stakeholders to address these issues and ultimately make food available and affordable to Ghanaians.
“These inefficiencies are mainly poor road networks, high transportation cost and a lack of storage infrastructure. The solution here is of a complex, cross cutting nature since it would involve effective collaboration with other sector ministries,” he said.
His comments were in reaction to recent data from the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS), which revealed a drop in consumer inflation from 26.4 percent in November to 23.2 percent by the end of 2023.
According to the Ghana Statistical Services, inflation fell 30.4 percent in 2023 while the average rate was 39.91 percent.
The considerable decrease is primarily due to favourable base effects compared to higher Consumer Price Index levels in 2022. After two months of 30 percent inflation, the steady downward trend indicates that disinflation will continue.
Mr. Bagbara also shed light on the external factors contributing to food inflation, including rising international food prices and the local currency’s depreciation against its foreign counterparts.
While acknowledging that some of these factors are outside the ministry’s direct control, he assured that efforts are underway to ensure stable food prices.
“Much of the food inflation is effectively imported due to rising international food prices and the depreciation of the local currency against its major foreign counterparts. These are external influences that are largely out of the scope of the ministry’s policies,” he added.
He stated that the agricultural sector contributed significantly to lower overall inflation; therefore, in order to ensure stability and affordability in the face of declining inflation, the government will focus its efforts on streamlining food supply chains.
