Reports from ESOKO available to Ghana Talks Business indicate that all things being equal, food prices in Ghana will fall in August.
Commodity Prices at the end of July
A fall in food prices in August is welcome news for Ghanaians. Covid-19 has brought on a lot of untold hardships to the populace.
Averagely, there was a significant reduction in prices for some commodities at the close of July. The price of cassava dropped by 7.91 percent to close the month at GHS 145.50 per bag, with the price of wheat decreasing to 6.90 percent to close at GHS 283.20 per 50kg bag .
Shelled groundnut fell by 3.19 percent to close at GHS 563.71 per 82kg bag, while the price of gari fell by 1.95 percent to close at GHS 237.43 per 68kg bag.
Pona (a yam variety) increased by 0.46 percent, ending the month at GHS 896.80 per 100 tubers. This translates to one tuber of yam costing approximately GHS 9.00. Cowpea (white) decreased by 1.83 percent to close at 443.71 per 109kg bag, while maize reduced by 1.71 percent to close at GHS 164.29 per 100kg bag.
Prices of commodities such as tomatoes and local rice, however, made some gains. Tomato gained 6.55 percent to close the month at GHS 566.83 per crate with prices of local rice increasing by 2.97 percent to close at GHS 346.29 per 50kg bag.
It is worthy to note that, In July, Robert Dowuona Owoo, Chief Operations Officer at the GCX announced plans to trade locally produced Ghana Rice on the Ghana Commodity exchange. He made this announcement at a National Rice Value Chain engagement organized by the John A. Kufuor Foundation and the Ghana Rice Interprofessional Body (GRIB) in Accra.
ALSO READ: Local rice to find its way on the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX)
According to Esoko, tomatoes made a net gain because “both the local ones and some volumes of the imported ones” which were of higher quality and expensive were traded on the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX).
Food Prices to fall in August
In an earlier report, noted by Ghana Talk Business, Mr. Francis Danso Adjei, the content manager of ESOKO confirmed that food prices are expected to fall in August. Farmers and traders will get rid of the old stock and prepare for the bumper harvest in August.
Moreover, the 10 percent reduction in transport fares announced by the Transport Ministry on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, implies traders will no longer have to transfer extra costs to consumers. Hence, adding to the significant fall in prices.
Ghanaians will definitely embrace the fall in food prices in August. The unprecedented shock waves of the coronavirus has crippled the financial strength of most Ghanaians. Food items will thus become relatively cheaper for more families to afford.
Chart 1.1 Crop Analysis Across Markets
Data Source: Esoko, Ghana
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