Agric minister 'brags' over low food prices

Minister for food and Agriculture Dr Afriyie Akoto says prices of foodstuff in urban areas have hit a record low.

This he attributes to what he calls the huge success of government's planting for food and jobs initiative.

Under the initiative, the government claims it has distributed farm inputs and given funding to hundreds of Ghanaian farmers in a bid to boost agriculture. 

With less than 24 hours to Farmers Day, (December 7) the minister is assuring that prices will continue to dip.

“Food prices in the urban areas have never been this cheap. The planting for food and jobs has touched every one of the 29 million people in Ghana. Anybody who feigns ignorance is just deceiving themselves because the evidence is very clear that food prices have come down substantially.

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“But this is just the beginning. Next year and in 2020 when we have all the machinery and seeds and doing everything right the quantity will be impossible,” he said.

Speaking to some market women at the Mallam Ata market in Accra, the traders say the goods are cheaper in the villages where they are harvested but  expensive in Accra due to the high transport fares. 

Speaking to Joy News the content manager of the commodity trading firm, Esoko Francis Danso Adjei said prices of some goods may have seen some reduction but cannot say if the reduction is the lowest in years.

“In terms of prices what I can say is that for some of the commodities the prices have been low in terms of what people are paying. But it being the lowest I may not entirely agree with him,” he said.

He admitted there have been some increases in production but if there are no better storage facilities the produce will go bad and food prices will go up in the coming months.