For lovers of the popular Ghanaian delicacy, widely known as kenkey or kormi, there is some good news unfolding under the leaves.
The latest Kenkey Index, a research index used to measure the cost of living through the size, price, and weight of kenkey, suggests that Ghanaians are getting more kenkey for their money.
The index reveals that the average weight of kenkey purchased per cedi increasing has increased by a significant 14.64%, almost 15% over the past year. In simple terms, the same cedi that bought a relatively smaller portion of kenkey a year ago now buys noticeably more.
This is very significant because food is one of the line items in the country that stretches household budgets often stretched to the last pesewa. This means for those who rely on kenkey as their staple food, the cedi is currently doing a little more work.
The second-quarter Kenkey Index found that the average selling price of kenkey was GH¢5.39, which was even marginally lower than the GH¢5.43 recorded in the previous quarter and only slightly above the GH¢5.37 recorded a year earlier.
However, the price showed a marginal price gain; the more significant development is not the price but the size. The average amount of kenkey obtained for every cedi increased by 5.01% between the first and second quarters, while the improvement over the past year reached 14.64%.
This means that despite an almost identical price between this year and the same period last year, today’s ball with the same price is substantially heavier; and consumers are effectively getting more food without having to spend more money.
For ordinary consumers, this is a real inflation story in action. By tracking price, size, and weight of kenkey alongside the trend of inflation, it attempts to capture something conventional inflation measures can sometimes miss: how much actual food a consumer gets for the money.
The index further estimates that the amount of kenkey equivalent to the weight of a standard sachet of water would have cost GH¢6.58 a year ago. Today, the same weight costs about GH¢5.74. This statistically represents a 12.71% decline.
So while nobody should confuse a cheaper ball of kenkey with the end of Ghana’s economic problems, the direction of travel is significant. The consumer is getting more physical product for the same money.
The development is a small victory in a big economy. It shows that at least consumers are getting relief in certain aspects of their economic life.
It is worthy of note that a larger ball of kenkey does not automatically mean rent is falling, transport is cheaper, or household incomes are rising. Nor does one quarter of data erase the pressures that have confronted Ghanaian households over the past few years.
However, the index offers a street-level measure of economic reality. If the economy is improving, eventually consumers should begin to feel some of that improvement in the things they buy every day.
The fact that the average price has remained broadly stable while the quantity received per cedi has increased suggests that some sellers are responding to changing market conditions not simply by cutting prices, but by giving customers more.
