Ghana’s food pricing system remains under siege from deeply entrenched middlemen networks, whose grip on agricultural distribution continues to distort market outcomes. Despite good harvests in some regions, consumers are paying record prices, and many farmers are struggling to profit fairly from their yields.
The real issue, analysts argue, lies not in production but in control, specifically, the control exercised by market queens and transport unions who dominate the flow of goods from rural areas to urban markets. These groups often set prices unilaterally, determine who gets to transport food, and influence how quickly products reach consumers. Their influence stretches far beyond negotiation, it borders on cartel-like dominance, squeezing both farmers and consumers in the process.
Speaking on a current affairs programme monitored on JoyNews, Dr. David Ofosu-Dorte, Senior Partner at AB & David, shed light on how these cartels have created artificial price regimes. “And because they fund these things, they have a complete control over the price… if a market queen is controlling how food gets to the center, indirectly they are controlling the price,” he stated. He emphasized that the power dynamics between farmers and market intermediaries need to be restructured to allow for more transparent, efficient, and fair food systems.
The transportation sector adds another layer of complexity. Rather than operating under competitive supply-and-demand principles, Dr. Ofosu-Dorte described it as “purely a cartel deciding how much to price it.” Transport fares, which affect the final price of food, are often fixed not by economics but by closed-door decisions of associations like the GPRTU and the Road Transport Coordinating Council. This rigid, politicized pricing model adds unnecessary cost to basic food items.
The implications are significant. Food remains one of the biggest components in Ghana’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), and as Dr. Ofosu-Dorte pointed out, “we forget history.” He recalled how even in the early 1990s, Ghana consciously debated the structure of food pricing, yet the dominance of cartels persists, even decades later.
To break the cycle, many experts now advocate empowering farmers through direct access to finance, logistics, and markets. This means going beyond farm subsidies and focusing on post-harvest systems, cold storage facilities, digital market linkages, and cooperative-run transportation fleets. If farmers can bypass the middle layer of price controllers, they may finally earn more for their produce while consumers pay less.
While the political will to confront these groups has often been lacking, the economic pressure on households is growing. Until structural reforms decentralize food distribution power, Ghana’s dream of affordable local food may remain out of reach.
