If you regularly prepare stew for personal or commercial use, you likely face a significantly higher inflation rate in June 2024, deeply impacting your income.
Market-goers and caterers have long complained about the rising costs of cooking stews and the latest data from the Ghana Statistical Service confirms these concerns.
Key vegetables used in typical Ghanaian meals saw inflation rates between 50% and 87%, far exceeding the national average of 22.8% and their figures from May 2024.
For those who enjoy preparing Okro stew, ingredients like tomatoes, pepper, onions, garlic, and possibly garden eggs are essential. Similarly, cabbage stew requires these items along with carrots.
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Unfortunately, these crucial ingredients experienced the highest inflation rates, indicating rapid price increases that severely affect household budgets.
Okro led the inflation surge with a staggering rate of 87.8%, followed by fresh green pepper at 71%. Tomatoes had an inflation rate of 67.5%, while garden eggs were at 66.7%.
Carrots and cabbage followed closely with rates of 62.2% and 61.6%, respectively. Essential vegetables like onions and garlic saw inflation rates of 60.6% and 50.1%, while dried red pepper was at 55.4%.
Even ‘kontomire’ (cocoyam leaves) and ginger had high inflation rates of 46.5% and 43.2%, respectively.
Month-on-month inflation data reveals an even more alarming trend, with these vegetables experiencing inflation rates between 12% and 28%, compared to the national average of 2.9%.
Okro, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, and green pepper had month-on-month inflation rates (28.2%, 27.9%, 27.8%, 27.1%, 25.2%) that even exceeded the national year-on-year average of 22.8%.
These skyrocketing inflation rates mean that your money depletes quickly after shopping at the market. Ironically, these vegetables posted high inflation rates in June, which marks the start of the harvest season.
Experts like Edward Kareweh, General Secretary of the General Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU), and Anthony Morison, Chief Executive of the Chamber of Agribusiness, attribute these high costs to several factors.
These include increased transport costs due to rising fuel prices and reduced production caused by the encroachment of illegal miners on large tracts of farming land.
