The Minority Caucus in Parliament has expressed worry about the country’s rising food prices, calling into question the effectiveness and impact of the government’s much-touted Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative.
The Caucus expressed severe unhappiness with rising food costs, stressing that despite the approval and allocation of billions of Cedis for the implementation of the PFJ intervention, it has failed to provide the expected positive results.
Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson’s opening speech in Parliament on Tuesday, June 11, gave a sobering image of many Ghanaians’ current economic hardships.
Using the rising price of tomatoes as a benchmark, the Minority Leader emphasized the sharp increase in food costs, which he claimed has aggravated Ghanaians’ cost of living and imposed a tremendous strain on households across the country.
“The price of a bucket of tomatoes, which was sold at GH¢75 at the beginning of this year, now sells at GH¢180. This represents an increase of 140%. Mr Speaker, the price of a crate of tomatoes increased by more than 360% between January and June this year alone, moving from GH¢1,500 to GH¢7,000. Times are very hard and Ghanaians are really suffering.
“Right Honourable Speaker, I am curious and I want to ask what has happened to the billions of Ghana Cedis approved by this House for the government’s so-called flagship programme, Planting for Food and Jobs. Where is the food and where are the jobs?”
