Government has rejected a report released suggesting that food prices in the country had shot up 73 per cent. The report by Food Security Ghana claims that Food Prices shot up significantly between October 2011 and March 2013.
According to Minister of Food and Agriculture Kofi Humado, “the claim cannot be supported by food surplus in Ghana.
The report puts average hikes in the prices of food at 73 per cent. According to the report, Banku which is an indigenous meal prepared with maize, saw a sharp increase from 0.50 Cedis to 2.0 Cedis over the period, representing over 300 per cent increase.
Speaking however on the Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, Mr. Kofi Humado refuted the claims, saying food situation in the country saw marked improvement last year.
Mr. Humado said government is rather faced with the challenge of transporting food crops from the farms to market centres to avoid food glut.
He challenged Food Security Ghana to explain the variance in prices between the raw food and prepared food, since the report only centred on the latter. “They should explain what caused the difference between raw produce and prepared food”.
“The report is not scientific and not factual, food situation has improved since last year” and the problem “we are facing is how to transport the raw food from the farms,” the Minister stated.