The Minister for Agriculture Dr Owusu Afriyie says no one can complain that food in Ghana is expensive.
He said he doubts anyone can say food is expensive in Ghana even though he is not a believer of controlling prices.
Mr Afriyie believes controlling prices of foods creates an artificial environment for misallocation of resources.
Some Ghanaians have called on the government to step in to control the prices of food which they say has gone up ever since COVID-19 hit the nation.
Mr Afriyie speaking at a press briefing today April 23, 2020 said he does not believe in controlling prices in the market.
“Unfortunately I am not a believer of controlling prices, it creates an artificial environment for misallocation of resources and that is a very simple economic reason why I don’t subscribe to it. In any case we are talking about 3 million producers of farm produce, thousands of traders small and large, and in the markets, you see the large numbers of these traders, how do you go around and control prices? I think that an open pricing system that is being followed by the gov’t shows the kind of confidence we have that we will be able to supply food to the market for consumers at very reasonable price. I don’t think anybody can complain in this country that food is expensive”
He however assured Ghanaians that there is enough food supply in the country for the time been even though COVID-19 has slowed farming activities.
According to the Minister, due to the government’s flagship programme, Planting for Food and Jobs, the country has more than enough to take care of the citizens in this period.
