* This is part of our series on the nexus between COVID-19 and food systems.
Ghana in Brief
Ghana in Brief
The Republic of Ghana is a country along the Gulf of Guinea
and the Atlantic Ocean, in the sub region of West Africa. Estimates put its population
at 30 million with the capital city being Accra. Rural and urban settlements
represent 68% and 32% respectively while about 52% of the labour force is
engaged in Agriculture with 29% in services and 19% in industry. Agriculture
contributes to 54% of Ghana’s GDP, and accounts for over 40% of export
earnings, while at the same time providing over 90% of the food needs of the
country (Ghana FactSheet). The nature of Ghana's agriculture is predominantly
smallholder, traditional and rain-fed.
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| Vegetable market at Makola, Accra |
Covid-19 outbreak and
protective measures in Ghana
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the
novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is an easily transmissible disease that was
identified December 2019 in Wuhan, China
and declared a pandemic by WHO on 11 March 2020. Ghana’s Ministry of Health
confirmed the first two cases of the novel coronavirus on March 13, 2020. Both
people tested positive for the disease after their return from a trip abroad.
To prevent its spread of the virus, the Ministry of Health of Ghana advised
people to follow the global preventive protocols by observing good personal
hygiene, avoid shaking hands, and practice social distancing. Since then, the
government has put in place several measures to further curtail the spread,
including closure of all entry ports and borders, quarantining and testing of
exposed persons, testing of symptomatic individuals, contact tracing, travel,
and social restrictions. In his first address to the nation on the pandemic, the
President, Nana Akufo-Addo announced the closure of all schools in Ghana, from
the basic level to the tertiary level, suspension of all religious activities
and funeral celebrations beginning 16 March 2020, among other measures. In
furtherance to the above measures, a partial three weeks lockdown was placed on
two largest cities in Ghana, Accra and Kumasi on March 27.
All these restrictions imposed a great deal of
hardships and inconveniences on every citizen both young and old across the
length and breadth of the country. Estimates indicate that the government spent
about Ghc54.3 million (approx. $9.5 million) on cooked food during the 21 days
lockdown period which was given to some 470,000 vulnerable individuals and
families in the lockdown areas. However, terrified
by a potential risk of food shortage during the pandemic, Ghana instituted measures
to keep the food system safely running as an essential sector, markets were well
supplied with affordable and nutritious food and consumers still were able to
access and purchase food despite movement restrictions. It is interesting to
note that the market participants were mainly the poor and the vulnerable as
their survival depends on what they do each day in the markets hence was not
much concerned about the consequences of the disease while the rich stayed home
and observe the strict protocols and depended much on their stored food stuffs.
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| Cooked food distribution process during lockdown in Accra |
Food situation before COVID-19
Before COVID-19 outbreak in Ghana,
Ghana’s food system and distribution was quite good with an abundance of food due
to the government programme of Planting for Food and Jobs which was introduced
in 2017 to address the declining fortunes of agriculture in the country. The
first model of the programme is to ensure food security crops, such as maize,
rice, sorghum, soybean and vegetables. This has since been expanded to include
groundnut, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, cassava, cowpea, plantain, sweet
potato and orange. Some of the successes of the programme after two years
include 24% increase in rice production, 72% increase in maize production, 39%
in soya bean and 100% increase in sorghum. Consequently, Ghana had started
exporting maize to some of our neighbouring countries including Burkina Faso,
Ivory Coast, and Togo. Also, Ghana’s production of yam, cowpea, cassava and
plantain have significantly gone up, so much that exportation to other
countries in the sub-region is ongoing now. This therefore presents a stable
food system in the country prior to the pandemic. Ghana’s food system and policy interventions
have created opportunities for smallholder farmers to be more productive and
relevant to livelihoods. These smallholder farmers are responsible for the
provision of an abundance of quality foods to meet the growing needs the urban
population. Additionally, open air markets are essential in Ghana since it is
the distributional route for food as good marketing system stimulates sales of the
produce to potential buyers for consumption.
The Lockdown effect on
food system after the Covid-19 outbreak
The immediate effects of the outbreak of the
disease and the corresponding containment measures announced pertaining to the
restrictions affected people who rely on casual labour to achieve their daily bread.
Furthermore, there was panic buying of food within the few days preceding the
targeted lockdown which resulted in higher food prices thereby reducing the purchasing
power of lower socioeconomic status of individuals and families. In view of
this, evidence suggests that some poor households could not stock up on food
and therefore resorted to coping strategies such as reducing the quantity of
meals or reducing the frequency of mealtimes which has implications on their
health status.
Another issue concerns the nutritional contents
of the food consumed in the period. The problem is the increased consumption of
highly processed foods, increased overall food intake leading to over nutrition,
particularly in children with a reduction in physical activities as the overall
lifestyle has become sedentary. More specifically, families of high
socioeconomic status, in preparation for the lockdown and other restrictive protocols
as well as the uncertainty surrounding when normalcy shall be restored, stocked
up on food stuffs and processed foods. Therefore, the chances are that they
stocked up more on the later which are more convenient and less perishable.
The
food system in the era of new normal
It is becoming increasingly clear that the
pandemic is not setting us free any time soon as the case count keeps rising each
day thereby creating a new era of adjustment in all spheres of life. In view of
this, Ghana needs to consider and address four important issues in the food system.
The first has to do with consumer protection as demand for products with bioactive
food ingredients and adoption of healthier diet to boost immune systems increase.
Secondly, attention should be focused on food safety in order to prevent the spread
of the virus from one point to another, thus from producers through retailers
to consumers. The third issue is that as the pandemic lingers on, there are disruptions
in the food supply chain which are affecting food production, and loss of
income thereby creating tension and food security risks in the country. Lastly, the sustainability of the food systems in this
pandemic era is another matter of concern to be addressed.
Another major area of concern which requires urgent
attention is the labour and agro-input shortages due mainly to
movement restrictions, social distancing rules which have started to affect producers,
processors, traders and trucking or logistics companies in food supply chains, particularly
for food products that require workers to be in close proximity and seasonal
workers who migrate from neighbouring countries to work on farms in Ghana. At
the same time, loss of income and remittances from families abroad is reducing
people’s ability to buy food and compensate farmers for their production. Food
producers also face large losses on perishable and nutritious food as buyers
have become limited and traders stop engaging with farmers.
Conclusion
The
coronavirus disease outbreak has exposed some weaknesses in Ghana’s food system yet it also presents an opportunity to reconsider
the production, distribution and consumption strategies so as to build a
healthier and more sustainable food system in the country. In furtherance to
this, the food system requires a holistic transformation from production to
consumption. Therefore, policy-makers should decentralize
and democratize the process by inviting all players in the food systems,. In
this sense, as the central government provides the necessary impetus and scheme
for the transformation, local and subnational actors should be able to identify
and outline their own food systems to depict their interests, values, resources
and goals. Authorities and research
communities should quickly identify the most critical threats to the food
system during this pandemic in order to implement mitigation measures.
References
Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by
the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at John Hopkins
University. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
Successes of planting for food and jobs
highlighted at the 9th Pre-harvest Agribusiness Exhibitions and
Conferences. Agrihouse Foundation. Nov 10, 2019. http://www.agrihousefoundation.com
COVID-19 Ghana’s Outbreak Response
Management Updates. Situation Update Confirmed COVID-19 Cases in Ghana as of
Thursday Apr 09 2020 12:27:04 Available online: http://ghanahealthservice.org/covid19/
COVID-19 and the risk to food supply chains: How
to respond? Policy Support and Governance. Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations. Available online: http://www.fao.org/policy-support/resources/resources-details/en/c/1269383/
Ghana FactSheet – Ghana Statistical Services. Available
online: https://www.statsghana.gov.gh
WHO Director-General’s Opening Remarks at the
Media Briefing on COVID-19—11 March 2020. Available online: https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-mediabriefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020.
Abel Fumey, PhD
Department of Economics
University of Ghana
Legon, Accra, Ghana
