GSS demands measures to address food prices’ disparity

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) wants an end to price disparity in food items across the country, if inflation is to be driven downward.

Food remains a major driver of inflation, and the prevalence of price disparity across regions and in some cases within a region, says Government Statistician Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, presents a challenge.

This follows findings from the maiden report on Food Price Variability across Regions by the GSS, which established variations in prices of ten selected food items within regions and between regions over a period of time.

Highlights of the report as presented by Prof. Annim, following release of the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) and inflation for May 2023, indicate that price variations within and across regions are commodity-specific – as the patterns observed differ for the selected food items.

Additionally, the ten selected items which include: beef; bread; cassava; cooking oil; imported rice; milk; millet; plantain; tomato paste; and yam had eight of them being higher within a region than between regions. Millet and beef were the only items with lower variation within regions than between regions.

In the report, a comparison between standard packaged commodities such as milk and tomato paste and items without standard packaging – cassava and plantain, among others – showed that the former in multiple regions recorded the same median price, with the latter registering substantial variations across regions.

Based on the selected food items, Greater Accra Region recorded the highest median prices in April 2023 followed by the Western North and then Ahafo Regions.

According to the GSS, findings from the report point to a need for strategies to address regional food price disparities – with Prof. Annim noting that “efforts at driving down inflation may be hastened with the engagement of sub-national governmental agencies”.

The report further suggests that developing strategies to address regional food price disparities will promote food equity for all, and will aid in achieving food security as well as significantly address macroeconomic variables that are influenced by inflation.

The GSS believes that the findings from the report will provide stakeholders in the food value chain with information to relate the observed variations in unit and median prices to their major pricing decisions. For households, they can also be guided by the information on price variations for decision-making.