Market Survey

SOME foodstuff sellers at the Mallam,Odorkor and Kaneshie markets,have enumerated a number of factors that have led to an increase in the prices of their foodstuffs.
They said apart from paying high daily market tolls and other taxes, the cost of transporting the foodstuffs from food growing areas to market centres was so prohibitive and that greatly affect them.
They stressed the need for market toll collectors to be properly uniformed so as to make identification easy, stressing that “we are not able to identify them when they come to take money from us, we sometimes pay money to the wrong people” .
The traders expressed this concern when the Daily Graphic paid a visit to the three markets to interact with the traders on their activities and how sales were moving.
“Sales have been very poor after the festivities because of the refusal of some drivers to reduce their fares”, some sellers lamented.
In separate interviews with the Daily Graphic, a pepper seller, Selina Donkor, said before the Christmas festivities, a bag of pepper cost between GH¢ 50 and GH¢ 70, but now, a bag of the same quantity goes for between GH¢ 100 and GH¢ 120.
A rice seller, Victoria Boye said, old stocks have been increased because of the numerous tax placed on imported goods.
Ms Boye added that, the GHp 1 coin was too small and of no value, “An item that should be sold for GH2p was been sold for GH5p, this she said was not good for their pricing”.
A vegetable seller, Naa Oti, appealed to other foodstuff sellers to eschew politicising issues that would degenerate into violence in the country.
On the issue of tax, some of the sellers complained they are taxed between GH¢3 and GH¢5 by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on quarterly basis aside the yearly taxed paid to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the daily tax of GHp 26.
They also stressed the need for government to support farmers with the needed imputs and funds to enable them farm all year round to help reduce the prices of foodstuff in the dry season.
The price of a bag of rice ranges from between GH¢42 and GH¢85, while a create of tomatoes goes for between GH¢100 to GH¢ 240. A sack of onions also costs GH¢100 depending on the size.