Who can ever imagine a less enthusiastic market as Christmas approaches? But such is the case at the popular Kaneshie market this December as the festive days draw nearer.
Though the market is flooded with commodities and Christmas goods such as firecrackers and toys, market women complain that the expected sales are not forthcoming. They say this year has the worse sales ever compared to previous years.
“In fact this Christmas market is bad. People are not buying at all, last year was far better than this year” said Emelia Dadzie, a plantain seller at Kaneshie market.
Traders, however, attribute the slow sales to the economic hardship, continuous power outbreak and the poor infrastructure in the country.
Mrs. Gloria Kumi Amanor who sells maize, explained that the high price tag of maize pushes people away. She said one ‘olonka’ of maize has risen up to an unprecedented price of GHC 5.00 instead of the usual GHC2.00 or GHC 2.50 every December. She says it is due to high cost of farming and huge charges by drivers because of the poor road network.
Another trader called Zinabu who sells fish at the same market expressed her worry over how “dumsor” had impacted negatively on her fish business.
She says “Business is slow as usual. People don’t even come to market. Sometimes the retail price comes down but the state of the fish makes it less attractive to customers. It is because of dumsor.”
Mr. Evans Amartey is the C.E.O of Quality Services Limited (QSL), which provides different services including Greenhouse farming and Agro-processing. He says the high commodity prices this December are due to low volume of foodstuffs on the market.
He attributed this to the unfavorable climate we experienced, and suggested that farmers should shift from the rain-fed type of agriculture practice to avoid commodities shortage in the country.
“Farmers should adopt innovative farming strategies like irrigation in dry seasons and post-harvest management to ensure abundant foodstuffs” he says
Traders are worried about commodity prices shooting up in the first quarter of 2016 due to what they are experiencing at the later part of the year 2015.
Emelia lamented, “If this is the plantain season and a sack of plantain costs between GHC150 and GHC200 which is 100% more than the usual, that means next year the same sack will cost between GHC 250 and GHC300.”