Yam traders in Bono East Region, precisely at the Techiman Central, Ofuman, Nkoranza and Kintampo markets are calling on traders in the southern part of the country to visit the area to buy their tubers of yam.
According to them, this season is the bumper harvest of yam which has flooded the various markets and if the foodstuffs are unable to get to the cities to be sold, they will rot.
Speaking to the Republic Press in an interview, the News Editor for Asta FM, Nana Adu said the market women are calling on vendors from the southern sector to visit the region to purchase yam.
Nana Adu said currently the 100 tubers of yam (bigger ones) are sold at the Techiman market for ¢700.00, while the medium ones go for ¢600.00 and the smaller ones are sold at ¢500.00.
“Even that they are not getting buyers and they are calling on traders in other parts of the country to visit the various markets in the region,” he stated.
Nana Adu attributed the mound of yam in the various markets of the region for two reasons.
He noted that one reason is a result of a recent media report of serial or ritual killings in the regional capital, Techiman and the other reason is the fact that many traders are not aware that this time is the bumper harvest for yam in the area.
“Many yam tubers have rotted away because there are no vendors so we want to use this platform to appeal to traders to visit Techiman and its communities so that the farms can also smile,” Mrs Elizabeth Nsiah, a yam seller appeals.
In another interview with a yam vendor at Kaneshie market in Accra, she noted that shoppers are buying less due to the cost of yam tubers.
Speaking with a group of yam vendors sheltering under canopies, 32-year-old Rita Oboh, said “My mother lived good, really good,” Oboh says with pride. “She built houses, she looked after everybody, her family, people who relied on her.
She was successful” but now “This used to be a prosperous trade, now everything is a struggle.”
Nearly all are far more expensive than they used to be. Food prices in Ghana have risen by 30% over the last year.
Another Trader 54-year-old Felicia Appiah said “If people bought three before, now they only buy one. “I earn 20% of what I earned five years ago.”
The cost of the yams has increased, but so have the delivery fees and bus expenses to and from the market and home. The women steadily lowered expenses as the profits decreased, notably by consuming less food.
The situation has put the Government under a lot of strain. Officials have emphasised countless times that the economic difficulties are mostly a result of the conflict in Ukraine, which has thrown off the world’s food supply lines.
However, a lot of people in the market point the finger at the government. A trader claimed that the conflict in Ukraine is only the most recent excuse.
