Alhassan Andani, a Ghanaian economist, has urged people in Ghana to buy food and items made locally in order to save the country’s economy.
He clarified that Ghanaians consume more locally produced goods than they generate, which is vital to the agriculture sector of the economy.
He interprets this to suggest that significantly more foreign exchange revenues are needed to import extra food supply.
On Wednesday, October 26, 2022, the former managing director of Stanbic Bank made the announcement at the 3Business Agribusiness Dialogue.
According to Mr. Alhassan Andani, when the currency rate fluctuates, the food supply is also negatively impacted, which causes problems for Ghanaians.
“This event could not be happening at a better time than now and I hope our panelist will elevate the conversation to the level of state and to the level of global coordination.
“Agriculture is probably one gifted industry to Ghana, to Africa, not all of Africa, Ghana. When the fundamentals are weak the exchange rate will expose you.
“On this one in agriculture, the fundamentals are that we consume more agricultural products in this country than we produce. Therefore, for the surplus that you consume you have to bring from outside.
“What do you need to bring in the surplus? You need foreign exchange and when the foreign exchange is not there the fundamentals will expose you. So, I think today’s Ghana and the world economy has exposed us in terms of the way we are organized in our agricultural sector.” He noted.
A report by Oxford Economics Africa, corroborated by many other reports, says the war in Ukraine, bans on food exports such as palm oil, supply-chain glitches, and a drought curbing the US wheat crop, have sent food prices skyrocketing. This is aptly reflected in Ghana’s high food inflation of 34.4% for August 2022.