The week to October 1 saw the price of tomatoes traded in the Agbogbloshie market in Accra registering more than 80 per cent increase in both retail and wholesale trading. Whereas the wholesale price increased from 0.80 pesewas a kilo the previous week to GHC1.50 in the week, the retail price increased from 0.90 pesewas a kilo to GHC1.70. In percentage terms, the price of the commodity increased by 88 and 89 per cent, in wholesale and retail trading respectively.
The average price of tomatoes, for the seven markets used for the construction of the Esoko Commodity index (out of the 30 markets covered) was GHC1.28 for retail and GHC1.02 for wholesale.
Over the past weeks, the price of tomatoes had become a subject of public debate. Early arrivals of the commodity, especially in the Volta Region forced prices to plummet, leading to considerable losses for some farmers. But now that the commodity seems to have landed in the hands of traders, the price is not only stabilizing, but increasing in most markets.
According to Esoko market watchers, the underlying factor for the increase in tomato prices could be due to supply and demand shifts. Esoko market enumerators have reported brisk business in tomatoes in recent weeks, as traders take advantage of price differentials in different markets, by swiftly sending the produce to where the price in much higher.
Also, some traders and farmers, using the Esoko price information service via their mobile phones have managed to form co-operative associations, aggregating and sending their produce to markets that offer better prices, cutting down transport cost and increasing their incomes.
The week under review saw the price of wheat, in the Esoko monitored markets, closing at the highest average price of GHC2.29 a kilo in retail and GHC1.97 a kilo in wholesale. Wheat prices, in the past few months, due to production disruption in Russia hard caused a global panic, increasing by an alarming proportion. However, the direct impact was not immediately felt on the Ghanaian economy. Despite this, the recent price increases on the domestic market, which some market watchers attribute to shortage is a worry. Esoko market watchers are monitoring the situation.
The Esoko Ghana Commodity Index- Retail (EGCI-R) closed the week at 2299.53 and the Esoko Ghana Commodity Index- Wholesale (EGCI-W) closed the week at 870.66.
Source: Esoko