Over 6.6m Ghanaians unable to meet basic food needs
More than 6.6m (22%) of the Ghanaian population are unable to afford their basic food needs, says the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER).
According to ISSER, the inability of the this section of the Ghanaian population to meet basic food needs, is as a result of price shocks in food prices coming from the cost of transporting food products from farms to market places.
Rapidly changing input prices or limited supply of farming inputs, is another reason for the high food prices and subsequently the inability of the over 6.6m people to afford them.
Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), it said there are more than 22% of Ghanaians who are either under pressure or in crises in meeting their food needs.
“Data from Cardre Harmonise (the West African food security monitor) suggests that the food security situation in Ghana just like other ECOWAS member states, worsened. Presently (in 2022), there are more than 22% of Ghanaians who are either under pressure or in crises in meeting their food needs”, stated ISSER in its Q3 2022 Economic Performance Review.
Per the Institute, holding of optimal buffer stocks is one way of addressing food price volatility and its implication on food security.
“One way to address food price volatility and its implication on food security is to hold optimal buffer stocks. Current estimates by ISSER in terms of how much buffer of grains
Ghana should hold per time, is about 800,000 tonnes if the cost of maintaining these stocks is 10% of the value of the grain”.
“The question is how much stocks do we currently have? Given that we could not make available stocks this year to stabilize prices, it may suggest that our current stocks are quite low”, it added.
ISSER, however, acknowledged significant investments made by government and the private sector in warehousing infrastructure.
But the challenge is inadequate surpluses and the availability of resources to buy and keep even if the surplus was available.
The inability of more than 6.6m of the population to meet basic food needs comes as a surprise given the government’s praise for the successful implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) which the President says, has made the country a net exporter of food.
In recent times, prices of food have skyrocketed with the World Bank asserting that food prices in Sub-Saharan Africa rising as much as by 122%.
In Ghana for instance, prices of food on the markets have seen astronomical rise given the significant fall in the value of the cedi against the dollar and enormous quantum of food imported into the country (using dollar).
