Accra-Ghana, Nov. 17, GNA – Buyers who thronged the Head Office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to purchase food items were left disappointed at the limited supply of farm produces.
At about 1200 hours, the Planting for Food and Jobs market, had run out of supplies, leaving buyers who came from as far as Tema and Kasoa, to lament the shortage of items.
The Ministry commenced the sale of food items on its premises on Friday, November 11, 2022, as an intervention under the Planting for Food and Jobs initiatives, to provide “affordable” food items to buyers in Accra in the wake of the rising cost of food items on the open markets.
The Ministry procured the items from farming communities in the regions and moved them to the capital city for onward sale at subsidies price to the populace.
Available food items included yam, plantain, cabbage, carrot, pepper, and rice.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mrs Beauty Senaya, a retailer, said she was sad because she had wasted time and effort without getting any commodity to buy.
She said: “I came all the way from Dansoman-Mataheko to purchase some of the foodstuffs, but I was told they are finished unless I wait for second consignment which is not yet in and I think if I go home I would not be able to come back the next day.’’
Mrs Alice Ofori, who had come from Teshie, some 12 kilometres from the PFJ market, to purchase some of the foodstuffs told GNA that she could not get all the produce she had intended to buy.
“I realised there are no differences in prices, and I also did not get all the foodstuffs I came to buy because I was told it is out of stock,” she said.
Though some buyers were disappointed, others were excited because they were able to purchase some food items at affordable prices.
Mr Cyril Nketsia, a customer from Kasoa-Buduburam in the central region was delighted that he was able to purchase some vegetables at an affordable price
“It is all about how the foodstuffs here are very affordable because, at the open market, you would not get the prices as it has been sold here. I just bought a cabbage at GHS 5.00 here, but it could have cost GHS 10.00 at the open market at Kasoa,” he said.
Mr Alhassan Issah, the Press Secretary to the Minister in an interview said: “The challenge is about the numbers that are coming and the supply.
“We have realised that we did not anticipate such a huge number to be coming, and also the crowd control has been a challenge.”
He said the purpose of the initiative was to cater for households, the final consumers, and not wholesalers.
Mr. Jonathan Addo, a farmer, said he would be happy if the government could establish a larger market for farmers to deal directly with consumers to limit the number of intermediaries who inflate prices.
“The only thing that motivated me to bring my products here is that I would love farmers to work directly with consumers so that people can save money. We are all blaming the government, but we are our own problem,” he said.
