Market survey conducted my Mynewsafric.com has revealed a drastic increment in prices of foodstuffs in markets surveyed in Accra.
Respondents who spoke to our news team have indicated that from the past three months (August to October), prices in the market have gone up between 5 to 10% on some of the commodities, while those that are imported into the country either doubled or close to half.
The market women have attributed these increment on high transport fares as a result of flactuating hike on fuel prices as well as what they described as “disturbing taxes”.
At Nima market, traders who spoke to Mynewsafric.com expressed worry over the unstable fuel prices which they believed is responsible for hike in prices of food stuffs, as a result, driving away customers or forcing them to spend little, a situation they said is affecting their profit margin.
Prices on commodities like Vegetable Cooking Oil, Rice, Tomato paste, Margarine and other confectionaries have seen an upward adjustment, beginning from the second quarter.
Amina, said she has been selling in the Nima market for many years now. She said the trajetory of food prices she is witnessing now could only be decribed as “all time high”.
She noted “Prices of these products (pointing to her wares) is now higher. When people come and ask and you tell them the new price they turn and leave. The products will be there for long and you had no option than to reduce it and that will be a loss for us”.
She continued “For instance, in October, (bag) Magic Rice was GH₵155, just 6 days into November, it’s GH₵165. And it’s like that with all the products” Amina explained in Hausa.
On her part, sister Ramatu also expressed her frustration about how the demand for foodstuffs have gone down due to high prices even with barely a month to Christmas. She shared the same sentiment as Amina.
“Previously these products move a lot but nowadays it is not like that, people come to ask and go without buying. Every blessed day prices go high, the (5Kilo) rice we sell at GH₵30 is now GH₵32, and GH₵32 is now GH₵35. People don’t buy at all, even yesterday I tried to convince a man into buying but he left, previously men buy a lot than women, It’s the other way round now. Even with Christmas approaching, the market is still dry” she explains.
It must be noted that prices of rice will vary depending on the brands available. The same argument can be made for local tomatoes and onion as against the imported ones.
However, they have also indicated that there are some farm products, namely; onion, tomatoes, and pepper, which they said are seasonal, are not necessarily affected by taxes or high cost of transport fares. They said prices of such farm products are determined by factors such as “availability and scarcity”.
Auntie Afi, as she is referred to by both colleagues and customers, trades in vegetbles in Nima market in the Ayawaso East Municipal Assembly of the Greater Accra Region.
She told our correspondent Hajar Diko Osman that “These are farm produce, (pointing to tomatoes and onion) the higher prices of fuel or taxes don’t affect because they are seasonal. In a season where tomato is rare, we can buy a basket at GH₵1500 but when it starts to appear (sic) we get it at GH₵200. For instance, last month (October) I bought a sack of onions at GH₵300 but it is GH₵270 this month. So it varies“.
The story has been the same in all other major markets surveyed, such as Ashaiman, Madina and Dome markets.
At Dome market, Maa Akos who sells Okro had these two appeals to the central government, either inject more money into the system or cut down fuel prices drastically, saying that could help them make some profits during the festive season.
She told Melody Hini-Amoako that “‘’Yes, indeed foodstuffs are really costly, (expensive) we can no longer afford to purchase the products (to come and sell). Even if we get the foodstuffs, we are unable to buy them due to the increment of fuel prices and cost of transportation too. We are unable to accumulate enough profit from the stuffs we manage to bring onto the market. We are pleading with the President to print more money into the system to help curb the hardship and increasing prices of things’’.
On her part, Sarah who is also a tomatoe seller said, “Prices of things have really shot up as compared to the prices for last three months. The heavy downpour of rain has also affected the cultivation of foodstuffs like tomatoes, making it more expensive to come by”.
Most of the traders at Dome market believed that prices of foodstuffs that are seasonal are expected to keep soring until after Christmas.
“I sell onion. During this period, there is a rise in price, it is very expensive but God willing, the price will drop a little after the Christmas celebration. It was in excess the last 3 months which caused a fall in its price. We could count 2 to 3 for just 50p but the price is currently high”, another woman said.
So, prices of goods and services are expected to maintain an upward trend from now till after the Christmas which has been predominatly attributed to factors such as hike in fuel prices, and high taxes, both domestic and import taxes.
But as it was gathered, seasonal foodstuffs are likely to swing depending on availability or scarcity, using simple demand and supply theory or principle.
