- Ghana Moves to Standardise Food Measurements as GSS Uncovers Wide Market Variations
Ghana is moving to standardise the measurement of food commodities after a nationwide survey by the Ghana Statistical Service revealed wide variations in the use of traditional market units such as olonka, cups, buckets, bundles and heaps.
The inaugural Non-Standard Units Survey provides the first comprehensive national evidence on how locally used food measurement units differ across markets, regions and commodity groups.
The findings expose a long-standing challenge in Ghana’s food markets, where the same container or traditional measure can represent different quantities depending on location, commodity type, filling method and local market practice.
For consumers, the problem affects price comparison and value for money. For policymakers, it creates complications for the compilation of consumer prices, agricultural production statistics, household consumption estimates and inflation measurement.
The Ghana Statistical Service says the survey is intended to improve the conversion of local food measurement units into standard kilograms and litres, allowing official statistics to better reflect what is actually traded and consumed across the country.
Although Ghana adopted the metric system in 1975, non-standard units remain widely used in food markets and farmgate transactions. Traders and consumers continue to rely heavily on local measures because they are familiar, accessible and deeply embedded in everyday market culture.
But the survey shows that familiarity does not always mean consistency.
Identical containers such as cups, olonka, margarine tins and buckets may hold different quantities depending on the market and the commodity being measured. The weight of a heap or bundle may also vary significantly depending on how it is arranged, compressed or filled.
These differences can distort price comparisons across regions and make it difficult to determine whether food is truly cheaper or more expensive in one market than another.
The issue is particularly important for the Consumer Price Index, which tracks changes in the prices of goods and services consumed by households.
If the underlying quantity being priced varies from market to market, then price data may not fully capture the real cost movement facing consumers.
The same challenge affects agricultural statistics, where farm output and household consumption are often reported in local units before being converted into standard measures.
Without accurate conversion factors, estimates of production, consumption, poverty, food security and household expenditure can be weakened.
The Non-Standard Units Survey therefore represents more than a technical statistical exercise. It is an attempt to bridge the gap between traditional market practices and the standard measurement systems required for modern economic management.
The survey found that solid food commodities showed significant variation in actual weights across local units, while liquid commodities such as palm oil recorded comparatively greater consistency because of more uniform container-based measurement practices.
The Ghana Statistical Service has introduced national conversion factors to translate commonly used local measures into standard units.
These conversion factors are expected to improve the accuracy of the CPI, agricultural production statistics, poverty analysis, household expenditure surveys and food security assessments.
When local units are converted more accurately into kilograms and litres, consumers can better understand what they are paying for, while traders, analysts and policymakers can compare prices across markets more reliably.
This is especially important at a time when food prices remain a major driver of cost-of-living pressures and public concern.
For the Bank of Ghana, more precise food price data can strengthen inflation analysis and monetary policy decisions. For the Ministry of Finance and other economic agencies, better measurement can improve fiscal planning, social protection targeting and poverty assessments.
For the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, standardised conversion factors can support more reliable agricultural production estimates, commodity balance sheets and food supply planning.
The survey was undertaken by the Ghana Statistical Service in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, with technical support linked to the 50×2030 Initiative, a multi-agency partnership involving the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
The 50×2030 Initiative seeks to strengthen agricultural data systems in partner countries and improve evidence-based policymaking.
In Ghana, the Non-Standard Units Survey is part of wider efforts to improve annual agricultural surveys and generate better data for monitoring food production, farm income, productivity and rural livelihoods.
The survey’s coordinator, Dr Bernice Serwaa Ofosu-Baadu, has been identified in available public material as explaining the objectives and benefits of the Ghana Non-Standard Units Survey, although a direct quote from the launch could not be independently verified from accessible records.
Food markets remain central to household welfare, inflation dynamics and agricultural policy. Yet the continued use of non-standard measures has created a blind spot in Ghana’s statistical system.
Standardising conversion factors will not remove traditional measures from markets, but it will allow official data systems to interpret them more accurately.
The reform does not require traders and consumers to abandon the olonka, cup, heap or bundle. Rather, it provides a consistent way of translating those familiar units into standard measures that can support credible national statistics.
The outcome should be better inflation tracking, stronger food market analysis and more reliable data for decision-making.
For consumers, improved measurement can also support fairer pricing and reduce confusion in markets where quantity and price are not always easy to compare.
For farmers, more reliable conversion factors can improve the measurement of output and strengthen agricultural reporting.
For government, the reform provides a stronger basis for policy decisions in food security, social protection, agricultural investment and macroeconomic management.
The GSS survey therefore marks a significant step in modernising Ghana’s statistical infrastructure.
It recognises the reality of how Ghanaians buy and sell food, while ensuring that those traditional practices can be properly captured within internationally recognised statistical standards.
As Ghana continues to confront food inflation, rural income challenges and agricultural productivity concerns, accurate measurement will become increasingly important.
The Non-Standard Units Survey offers a practical response to a basic but consequential problem: the need to know precisely how much food is being bought, sold, produced and consumed.
In a country where food prices shape household welfare and national economic policy, that knowledge matters.
