Kenkey consumers in Accra are lamenting the high cost of their favourite food.

The delicacy made from milled corn covered in the corn husk and accompanied by red hot pepper with fish receives massive patronage across the country.

Hikes in the price of maize and other food items due to shortages are the cause of the rising food prices.

In Techiman, for example, a bag of maize that sold at ¢160 in July 2020, is now selling at ¢375 – that’s more than double. The impact is being felt by consumers and food vendors.

“I used to buy a ball of kenkey at ¢1. But now, the same size of the kenkey is going for ¢2. So, we don’t get satisfied”, one kenkey consumer told Joy News.

“The problem is that the maize has become more expensive. So, it isn’t easy to sell it at the same price. I used to sell a ball at ¢1, but because of the prices of the maize, it’s now ¢1.50,” another kenkey seller said.

In the Ashanti Region, bread prices have gone up whilst other foods such as Fufu, Banku and others are said to have either been reduced in portions or prices increased.

At the Malata market, traders admitted that prices are increasing but say it is only seasonal.

“Right now, the tomatoes are out of season, and so they have become expensive. But we hope that the prices will reduce after the next harvest”, one tomato seller at Malata market told Joy News.

As a response to the current situation, agribusiness platform ESOKO Ghana is asking government to take deliberate steps in putting up facilities to store local food products to avert the recurrent shortages and attendant price hikes recorded on the market annually.