Ripple effects of Ivory Coast and Libya crises

- Food prices to go up in Ghana

The prices of basic food commodities are set to go up in the country in the next few months with the escalation of the political crisis in both Libya and Ivory Coast.

The crises in these two countries have seen scores of Ghanaians and other nationals trooping into Ghana to seek refuge. And this, the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Nii Amasah Namoale says would lead to an upsurge in food prices since the country never budgeted for the extra mouths.

³Within the next one or two months, food prices will go up a little in the sense that we have some extra 18,000 mouths to feed. The Libya crisis, over 17,000 Ghanaians are coming into the country. As they are coming, they are coming with no GDP; they are coming to rather consume what we have. The Ivoirians¹ are also coming in. So we have got some extra mouths we have not budgeted for².

Nii Amasah Namoale was speaking on the Big Bite show, Friday, 25th March 2011 on Xfm 95.1, a privately owned commercial radio station in Accra.

It is in this light that Honourable Namoale is calling for a total embrace of the launch of ŒOperation Grow Your Own Food¹; the government¹s means of making sure that Ghanaians stay immune to the global food crises.

He says, ³so I am entreating all Ghanaians to produce something², adding, ³the little that you produce will go a long way to put us in a food security zone we all would feel comfortable with².

The years 2007­2008 saw dramatic increases in world food prices, creating a global crisis and causing political and economical instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations.

Many countries, including Ghana, reacted to the 2008 food crisis by reducing the import tariffs on certain foodstuff. The government of Ghana scrapped the 20 percent import tariffs on rice and other basic foodstuffs.

In 2008 the Kufuor administration scrapped certain duties on the importation of rice and other foodstuff to help consumers in Ghana amidst the world food crisis.

However, when the NDC led administration announced the 2010 budget, the 20 percent tariff was re-introduced.

Justifying the need for the reintroduction of the 20% tariff, Nii Amasah Namoale said it was to support the production of local rice, saying, ³It is better for us to produce at higher cost and consume because, Soviet Union¹s when the food crisis came, said they would not export their foods. India also stopped export of their grains. So if where we buy these foods from, they say there is crises so they would not sell to us, we would all starve to death. So we have to put things in place to make sure that our farms survive².