Walk into any market, chop bar, or restaurant in Ghana today and you will hear
the same complaint everywhere: “Food is too expensive.” Not luxury imports.
Not foreign delicacies.

Basic Ghanaian food, Ripe plantain, Yam, Cassava, Rice, Stew, Soup. Foods
that should be abundant and affordable are increasingly becoming items people
hesitate to buy.

In many neighbourhoods, ordinary citizens report that you need 50 cedis or
more for a single proper meal, depending on location. Multiply that by three
meals a day, and households are forced to make painful trade-offs.

People hear a price, pause, and silently calculate: How much will I spend in a
week? In a month? Why does a plate of rice cost 100–200 cedis when a large
bag sells for 500–900 cedis?

This arithmetic, silently performed by everyday Ghanaians, reveals the real
problem: Ghana’s food crisis is not born in the market—it begins long before
food reaches the plate.

The Cost of Farming Before the First Seed

Most of Ghana’s staples; plantain, yam, cassava, maize, and vegetables, are
produced by smallholder farmers operating on thin margins. Fertilizers are
expensive, improved seeds are scarce, and mechanization is limited.

Manual labour is slow, inefficient, and costly. In such a system, producing
affordable food is nearly impossible, and the burden inevitably falls on the
consumer.

Rain-Fed Agriculture and Climate Risk

Over 90% of Ghana’s agriculture is rain-fed. In a changing climate, this
dependence is dangerous. Delayed rains, floods, or prolonged dry spells
determine whether yields succeed or fail. Irrigation, which could stabilize
production and prices, remains underdeveloped. The result: recurring price
shocks that seem “unexpected,” but are entirely predictable.

Producing Food, We Cannot Preserve

A significant share of what Ghana produces never reaches the consumer. Postharvest losses—due to poor storage, lack of cold chains, and inadequate
processing facilities—mean tomatoes rot, cassava goes underutilized, and fish
spoils. Meanwhile, imports of rice, tomato paste, and starch increase, driving
prices higher for foods that could be produced locally.

Roads, Distance, and Hidden Costs

Food must travel from farm to plate. Poor feeder roads, high transport costs,
fuel price spikes, and multiple intermediaries add layers of cost. The result: food is cheapest at the farm gate and most expensive in the city, a stark irony for a country that grows its own staples.

The Everyday Reality

For many Ghanaians, this crisis is personal. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
become calculations of affordability rather than nourishment. Households skip
meals, reduce portion sizes, or opt for less nutritious substitutes. The
consequences ripple across health, productivity, and education, yet the issue
rarely dominates national discussion.

A Systemic Failure

The real question is not why food is expensive. It is why Ghana allows a broken
chain—from inputs, production, storage, transport, processing, to policy—to
persist. Until this system is fixed, food will continue to feel like a luxury,
households will continue to make painful trade-offs, and dependence on imports
will deepen.

This is not just an economic problem. It is a matter of national resilience,
health, and dignity. Farmers, policymakers, media, and citizens must confront
the truth: Ghana can grow and feed itself, but only if we treat food as the
foundation of national survival, not just a market commodity.

If breakfast, lunch, and dinner touch every Ghanaian three times a day, then the
conversation about food pricing, storage, and production should touch all of us
every day, too.

Written by a concerned citizen and advocate for modern agricultural education
and youth entrepreneurship, committed to empowering the next generation to
innovate, feed communities, and transform Ghana’s economy.