An agricultural economist has admonished that government should consider stockpiling food produce ahead of 2021 to prevent surge in food prices due to the uncertainty surrounding the novel coronavirus.
Dr. John B.D Jatoe stated this while discussing the “Facilitation of Warehousing Systems to Avert Post-harvest Losses” with the Vaultz News. According to him, we are not in normal times and he expects the National Buffer Stock to buy and hoard farm produce from the upcoming harvest season for the future unknown.
“Our system facilities, the mechanisms are not there, otherwise I would have expected that because of the uncertainty surrounding the COVID, an institution like the National Buffer Stock company would have been in readiness to actually go in and buy and stockpile farm produce during the harvest season.”
As he projects the pandemic probably lingering on till July 2021, he maintains that if the National Buffer Stock cannot buy in that capacity, it should at least be sufficient to stock the warehouses currently under construction.
“If there is no scale buying for that purpose at the national level, this is a national institution and I mean I expect that in each of these districts that they are constructing the warehouse, they are resourced enough to buy with an eye to storing to make sure that if let’s say another six months along the line, we’re not out of this COVID, I mean six months from beyond this year and not six months from today. So, let’s say that if by June or July next year we’re not out of this, how will our situation, full situation be like?”
of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness
Dr. Jatoe’s statements come on the back of the uncertainty associated with the pricing of farm produce ahead of the harvest season. When asked if prices will drop, he said they are likely to drop, however, some farmers may have accessed loans to be able to produce so it may affect prices.
“Normally what happens is, because we’re all harvesting at the same time and actually people may also have contracted credit to produce and then for some other needs, a lot of people are selling off their produce at harvest, prices are expected to drop however small.”
He went on to question that if that be the case and prices fall on the international front, what will be the fate of Ghana’s pricing system. Notwithstanding, he pushes that if the nation stockpiles, it can survive price fall and food shortages.
“Will we be able to manage it if there are still problems with, you know, international trading systems? In that kind of scenario where prices will fall, it will be marginal but then we would have also secured stocks that would enable us avoid excessive increases in food prices in the future because as we travel along the line, we would have been releasing what we have stockpiled to manage the system so that nobody is left behind or we don’t have crisis in terms of food shortages and then associated social problems. So, as we go into harvest, we expect prices to fall but it depends on how we manage the system.”
