You might soon have to pay more for your favourite “Gobe” (cooked beans with fried ripe plantain) as the price of beans continues to skyrocket due to a severe drought in northern Ghana. This could also lead to smaller portions for the same price.
Since March, beans prices have been steadily increasing, with April seeing beans among the top 10 items with the highest inflation rate. Vendors have already raised the price of Gobe from GH¢7 to GH¢10, with some considering charging GH¢12 or more. High-end sellers might charge between GH¢15 and GH¢20, with restaurants potentially asking for even higher prices.
Sefakor, a long-time beans seller and owner of Starfuds in Adenta Sakora, expressed her frustration to The High Street Journal, stating, “Prices of beans change every single week.” She noted that a 60kg-65kg bag of beans, which cost around GH¢1,500 between January and March this year, now sells for GH¢4,300 at the Madina market in Accra, representing some 186% jump in price. “The price hike is destroying sales. The sack of beans is GH¢4,300 today. I couldn’t even buy it, so I bought in smaller quantities instead,” she added.
The recent surge in bean prices is attributed to the drought in northern Ghana, which has devastated crops across vast areas. “I started buying beans from the North, but now my supplier tells me he simply can’t get beans to send to me. He warned me to brace for very difficult times,” Sefakor lamented.
Northern Ghana, known as the country’s food basket has seen a sharp decline in production due to the drought, leading to soaring prices. Beans sellers like Sefakor are now struggling to set fair prices for their meals, unsure whether they can afford to buy the next batch of raw beans. They face the dilemma of setting prices high enough to cover future costs but risk driving customers away.
Sefakor’s biggest concern is the uncertainty of when the situation will improve. She had hoped that prices would stabilize by July, when the harvest typically begins, but instead, they have continued to rise.
The government has announced an GH¢8 billion intervention to address the drought’s impact on food availability and prices. While plans are in place to import between 330,000 and 350,000 metric tonnes of maize to prevent food shortages, there has been no mention of importing beans. This likely means that the price of ‘Gobe’ will continue to rise, potentially making it as expensive as roasted plantain, or “Kofi Brokeman,” which has also become less affordable for low-income earners.
