The Consumer Advocacy Centre (CAC) at Laweh University College is urging the government to enact legislation safeguarding consumers from the impact of market actors exploiting high and unjust food prices.
This call is rooted in initial findings from a study revealing that inadequate competition in the food supply market and the dominance of certain market players, such as Market queens and food aggregators, significantly contribute to unfair food pricing in the Ghanaian market.
Professor Goski Alabi, President of CAC, shared insights from the study, highlighting that consumers between January 2022 and July 2023 experienced the burden of rising production costs, leading to a disproportionate increase in retail prices compared to wholesale prices for various food items.
For instance, the retail price of onions surged by 42.4%, while the wholesale price increased by only 18.1% during the same period.
“The retail price of onions increased by 42.4 per cent while the wholesale price rose by just 18.1 per cent in the same period.
“The retail price of gari grew by 77 per cent compared to a 63 per cent rise in wholesale price and an increase of just 46.4 per cent in the whole sale price of cassava, the basic ingredient for gari,” she said.
Professor Alabi emphasized the role of the ‘Fair Price Monitor,’ a tool deployed in partnership with Consumers International, in exploring potential reasons for this phenomenon.
Factors such as rising fuel costs and a weakening exchange rate were acknowledged, but the lack of standardization in weight and measurement systems in the country was identified as a significant contributor to unfair pricing.
Wisdom Aborchie, a study enumerator in the Volta region, revealed that aggregators and wholesalers determined retail prices based on factors like color and size, deviating from the actual farmgate price.
Executive Director of Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Dr. Charles Nyaba, highlighted the vulnerability of small-scale farmers and consumers to market actors like aggregators and market queens, who wield influence over pricing and market availability.
The General Secretary of the General Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU), Edward Kareweh, emphasized the need for consumer protection and market fairness, suggesting that the current system lacks sufficient safeguards despite rejecting the idea of a price control regime.