By Newwatchgh.com Editorial Team
Measures to tackle the spread of the novel coronavirus in Ghana with an earlier two-week restriction order has led to a continuous daily increases in panic buying and hoarding of food items on the market by some traders. This has led to an irregular hike in the prices of food items on the market by traders.
The partial lockdown has given the opportunity to some traders to cash in on poor Ghanaians, a situation most people have expressed worry with the Catholic Archbishop of Accra, the Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie, CSSp, describing it “as unchristian and taking advantage of the poor.” “Unfortunately the panic caused by coronavirus has afforded others the opportunity to exploit their suffering neighbours,” the Ghanaian Archbishop said in his 2020 Pastoral Letter to all Catholics in the Accra Archdiocese.
The Archbishop’s Letter which was issued in March is still relevant due to the extension of the lockdown for one more week announced by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on April 9, 2020 as well as the two week extension of public gathering also announced on April 12, 2020.
“Life is getting more difficult, prices of goods and services are soaring,” the Archbishop said, cautioning that “people who take advantage of their suffering brothers and sisters lack mercy.” He added that with this “they inflict pain on others by exacting more from them in the market place.”
He expressed worry that “market women and shop keepers say to themselves, it is our time to make more money on the suffering masses,” stating, “this is not Christian and let us not take advantage of the suffering and the needy.”
Meanwhile, with the prices of basic food staples rising, as shoppers stock on essentials and sellers seek profits amid the coronavirus scare in Ghana, many citizens have raised similar concerns made by the Catholic Archbishop of Accra and are calling on the government to intervene.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Ghana and the declaration of lockdowns in Greater Accra, Greater Kumasi and Kasoa, many people have predicted food shortages due to panic-buying that has accompanied the pandemic. Some have hit out hard at shop owners and traders over the hike in prices of products in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak and the restrictions imposed by the President of Ghana.
Food prices in Accra started shooting up exponentially from the evening of Friday, March 20, through to Sunday, March 22, 2020, following the announcement of markets close down by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to pave way for a disinfection exercise in the markets, an effort to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the markets.
A visit by the Newswatchgh.com editorial team to some Markets in Accra including Dome, Mallam Atta, Achimota and Makola before the lockdown, revealed that prices of food items like tomatoes, gari (cassava flakes), and yam, among others have gone up exorbitantly.
For example,Newswatchgh.com established that a container of tomatoes which previously sold at GH₵10 was now selling at GH₵60, however for those who could not afford the container, the traders sold three tomatoes at GH₵5. Interestingly, newswatchgh.com gathered that gari olonka, which was selling about GH₵6 was now selling at GH₵30 while a pack of pepper had shot up from GH₵1 to GH₵5.
Hilda Ofori Appiah, a customer told newswatchgh.com at the Achimota Market that “The outbreak of the COVID-19 disease has brought many robust economies including Ghana to their knees as it has resulted in the suspension of many economic activities and Ghana is no exception.” The situation, she noted has also brought about fear in the system with many people engaging in panic-buying.
Sharing his view with Newswatchgh.com on the skyrocketing of food prices, Samuel Zan Akologo, the Executive Secretary of Caritas Ghana, the Charity wing of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said “The COVID- 19 is wrecking unprecedented havoc on humanity in catastrophic proportions and its effect is total and comprehensive, encompassing all aspects of live, without exception.”
“The immediate and visible indications of the health implications should not make us gloss over its social, cultural and economic dimensions,” he opined, adding that “It is very important that we are reflecting on its implications on basic livelihood of food and food prices.”
He told Newswatchgh.com that “The food value chain in Africa and Ghana for that matter is relatively precarious and fragile, compared to other places like Europe and America,” saying that “for instance, our storage, stock, distribution, marketing and general food security and infrastructure systems are very, very weak.”
With the lockdown and other restrictive measures in respect of COVID-19, this fragile food value chain would be further impaired, Zan Akologo added, saying that “for instance, stock will soon ran out, rational human behaviours will resort to hoarding, marketing and distribution in the two major cities will be affected, delays in transporting food and meat will result in huge losses because of their perishable nature.”
“As we say water is life and indeed, water is a critical component of food, yet access to water in most communities and even city slum areas is very grossly inadequate,” he stated.
According to him, “It is also important to add that, most areas in Ghana are already food deficit,” indicating that “With these analysis, it is my opinion that food shortages and price hikes of food are inevitable in the long term, if the COVID-19 is not arrested in the shortest possible time.”
On Monday, March 23, 2020, the General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), Edward Kareweh, while contributing to a discussion on ‘Business Focus’ show on TV3, a local TV Station, remarked that Ghana does not have enough food buffer stock to avert a possible famine that may occur due to the uncertainties surrounding the end in sight of the virus.
He added that the country may be hit with a food crisis should the COVID-19 deadly disease prolong, noting that “there is an urgent need for duty bearers to start thinking about how to address the issue of acute food shortages that the country is currently facing.”
However, commenting on the hikes in food prices in the country, occasioned by the surge in panic-buying, Mr. Kareweh pronounced that “what is going on in the markets is an issue of demand and supply,” adding however that he expects the government to flood the markets with food produce to change the situation.”
Meanwhile, the Interior Minister of Ghana, Ambrose Dery has described as unnecessary, the desperation by some residents of Accra and Kumasi to stock up some basic household essentials and food items ahead of a partial lockdown in parts of the country.
He expressed surprised at the behaviour of the hundreds of residents who stormed various major markets and supermarkets within Accra and Kumasi Saturday morning to stock-up foodstuff and toiletries among other essential supplies, to hunker down for the next two weeks.
In a bid to assure Ghanaians of enough food, Ghana’s Minister of Agriculture has told the citizenry that it is needless rushing to stock food amid the two-week partial lockdown of Greater Accra and Kumasi, “since Ghana is not at war and there is enough food for everyone.”
At a press briefing by the government on Monday, March 30, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto said: “There is enough food in the system, people do not need to stock up because this is not a war situation”. “We are talking about just two weeks and if we are successful with what we want to do, within the period of two weeks, we will be back to normal”, he said.
“There is no need to stock up”, he stressed, adding: “If there was not enough in the system and we had to wait for imports, then I would have said you would have to cover yourself and the family but there is absolutely no need because we have more than enough to feed the people of this country.”
Source: Newswatchgh.com
