Esoko Ghana, a tech based mobile data collection institution has predicted that food prices on the Ghanaian markets are likely to drop by end of August this year, 2021.
Meanwhile, the persistent increase in food prices over the past weeks have left many households and businesses worried.
Therefore, the prediction of stability and price reductions is expected to be a huge relief to many consumers after weeks of hike in food prices on the market.
Explaining the predictions, Francis Danso-Adjei, the Content Manager at Esoko Ghana, said the organization used food production cycle as the basis for the predictions.
“As we approach the end of this month August and early September, food prices will begin to come down because food production cycle in the southern part of the country would have been complete. So, the produce will start hitting the markets in the capital city which will bring food prices down”.
Francis Danso-Adjei
However, Mr Danso-Adjei, added that the government should invest heavily in irrigation and storage facilities, adopt improved technologies to ensure that there is an all-year round food production. He further noted that it is the only way to have food supply of all the major commodities all year round in the country.
“We have to try and produce all year round. What it means is that, we must invest in irrigation and some other forms of technology like green housing. Again, with our way of storing food, we need to do something about it. What happens to the produce once they come onto the market is important. The ones that we do not consume immediately, we need to either process them or keep them in a form that we can use later.”
Francis Danso-Adjei
However, Esoko has conducted a research and came out with the past and prevailing market prices of some commodities across the country.
According to Esoko Ghana, a 91kg bag of cassava which was selling for GHC206 as of 21st January in Takoradi, shot up to GHC247.50 by July 21, 2021.
Meanwhile, in Tamale, it increased from GHC185 to GHC226 within the same period.
Moreover, a 100kg bag of maize sold for GHC234 as of January in Takoradi shot up to GHC420 by July 2021. It also increase from GHC190 to GHC294 in Tamale, while it increased from GHC191 to GHC301 in Techiman.
More so, In Tamale, local rice increased from GHC415 to GHC450, while in Techiman the product recorded a significant increase from GHC397 in January to GHS904 in July.
The price of a hundred tubers of yam weighing 250 kg sold for GHC797 in January. As of July, it was selling at GHC956 in Takoradi.
In the face of all these increment, there have been some marginal reductions in prices of some selected commodities in some part of the country. In Tamale, the price of hundred tubers of yam reduced from GHC850 to GHC813 between January and July.
For local rice, a 100kg bag sold for GHC304 in January in Takoradi, recorded a reduction of GHC19. By July, it was selling at GHC285.
Furthermore, a 91kg bag of cassava in Techiman recorded a slight decrease of GHC2 from GHC182 to GHC180 in the period under review.
Meanwhile, in Takoradi, a 50 kg bag of imported rice was selling at GHC329 in January but came down to GHC324 by July. In Techiman a 50kg bag of rice recorded a reduction of GHC8 from GHC380 in January to GHC372 in July 2021.
Esoko is a technology and deployment company helping non-profit agribusinesses and governments digitize data collection and service delivery projects.
