COVID-19 and Food Systems: Ghana’s Perspective

* This is part of our series on the nexus between COVID-19 and food systems.

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.

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.   

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 9^th 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/

COVID-19: Ghana records two case. Daily Graphic on 12 March 2020. https://www.graphic.com.gh

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

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COVID-19, Social Distancing, and Food Prices in Nigeria

* This is part of our series on the nexus between COVID-19 and food systems.

The most recently discovered infectious disease COVID-19 is purported to have began in Wuhan, China, around November-December 2019 though traces of the virus have been found in Barcelona, Spain as early as March 2019 (June 29, 2020, Global News). The novel virus has spread across many countries and is now a pandemic, affecting many global economies. Since the disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from nose or mouth, tiny aerosols in the air or through contact with surfaces, it necessitated keeping distance of at least one meter, but usually two between people. The World Health Organization and other epidemiologists have raised people’s awareness of the need for social distancing, which became crucial to curb the spread of the virus. When Edward Hall a cultural anthropologist, in 1963 conceived the word proxemics to describe research regarding social distancing in daily living, it was generally unimaginable that a virus, which was 100 times much smaller than even a bacteria, could cause a dire concern regarding proximity in humans, though knowledgeable people remembered the devastating effects of the 1918 H1N1 pandemic flu which killed upwards of 500 million people (CDC &P, Mar. 20, 2020) . 

Iyana-Iyesi Market, Ota, Ogun State 

The Nigerian Food Market and the Lockdown Waves

Globally, there have been concerns, anxiety, desperate measures because of the pandemic. Issues ranging from hygiene, isolation, and social distancing has been topical in these times. Nigeria is known as the most densely populated black nation globally, with over 200 million people. For Nigeria, the story has been no different; the country has been through waves of lockdowns and movement restrictions over the past months to alleviate the spread of the virus. However, stopping peoples' gathering has been impracticable for the country, as much as the government attempted severally to achieve with the imposition of movement restrictions. For instance, the food markets have not been closed all through the pandemic. The best that was attained was the reduction in the number of days the markets opened at the inception of the first two weeks lockdown, which started March 30, 2020. 

An unmindful Shopping Attitude of Nigerians

The average Nigerian has a very queer shopping attitude, believing that they must physically be in the market to shop. The structures of the market fit a chaotic description, especially for the major ones. The typical Nigerian market is a picture of congestion and chaos. In this situation, a customer may negotiate with about five sellers before eventually buying an item, and physically touching then wares at will. Also, shoppers do not have access to mobile money or online transfers; hence they shop with cash, are delayed further in the market, collecting their balance from a transaction. Social or physical distancing is impossible in this sort of setting, especially where the people do not have a good understanding of how the disease spreads. However, a small proportion of shoppers do not physically appear in the market; rather they place their orders via social media platforms like the WhatsApp group forum. This has been in existence before the pandemic and further entrenched during the period of the outbreak, particularly for those who are quite aware of the essence of social distancing, and have sufficient money to pay for the suppliers’ commission and delivery charges.

Bodija Market Ibadan

Food Supply Shortage and Price Hikes

The lockdowns and the gradual easing of the movement restriction aimed at reducing the spread of the disease, has resulted in dire economic effects globally, and Nigeria has not been left out of this global recession. This period led to a reduction in access to credit, farm inputs, transport services to transport food, and the closure of the borders which also resulted in the shortage of food importation. The situation, as mentioned earlier, resulted in a limited supply of food, which also caused a rise in food prices. The consumer price index for food has been on the increase all through the pandemic period. From 14.9 percent in February 2020 to 15.18 percent in June 2020, showing an increase of about 0.28 percent within only four months, and a forecasted increase to 17 percent which is expected by September 2020¹ (Trading Economics, 2020).

These increases have been relative. They have cut across all kinds of food items, ranging from potatoes, yams, other tubers, bread, fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, and even food convenience products.  the food price rise varies relatively across the country. The worst-hit by food inflation has been in Sokoto, Plateau, Gombe, Edo, and Kano states, with rates 17.12 percent, 16.99 percent, 16.96 percent, 16.71 percent, and 16.45 percent (year-on-year) respectively. At the same time, the states with the least food price rise were Bayelsa, Katsina, Bauchi, Nasarawa, and Ondo states with rates 11.89 percent, 13.04 percent, 13.04 percent, 13.5 percent, and 13.53 percent respectively (Nairametrics, 2020). 

Consequently, after the lockdown, the price of food items has consistently been on the increase. For instance, a paint bucket of Cassava flakes (Gaari) used to sell for ₦400 but now trades at ₦800,  a 100 percent price increase. A big bag of pepper which formerly sold for ₦7,000, now sells for ₦15,000, indicating a price increase of 114.3 percent. In the same vein, other commodities as well show price hikes. Products like onions, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, fish, rice, palm oil, and beans recording percentage increases of 30.77 percent, 150 percent, 127.3 percent, 9.52 percent, 5.84 percent, 22.73 percent, and 15.75 percent respectively (Nairametrics, 2020).

The Resolve of Nigerians to Survive the Pandemic

Meanwhile income and means of livelihood have been on the decline since the pandemic’s inception. Employers of labour including banks have laid off staff and introduced salary cuts. Entrepreneurs and business owners have experienced a slow business trend and hence lower income. How then could people be able to cope in this precarious circumstance? How are ends supposed to meet, when even the basic needs of life like food, cannot be provided? How could the populace manage to access the vaccines when they are available? The palliatives provided by the government at the inception of the lockdown in March 2020 have been long exhausted. The private sector interventions by well-meaning Nigerians and the private sector intercessions like CA-COVID are also depleted. Yet, the people are resilient and determined to survive. A dire need for an economic transformation is desired for Nigeria. What will become of the inequality gap for Nigeria? Will it increase?

References

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Mar. 20, 2019. ‘1918 Pandemic (H1N1 Virus). https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic h1n1.html#:~:text=It%20is%20estimated%20that%20about,occurring%20in%20the%20United%20States.

‘Coronavirus traces found in Spanish sewge sample from Mar. 2019’ June 29, 2020. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/7119856/coronavirus-sewage-barcelona-march-2019/

Trading Economics 2020. Nigerian Food Inflation Forecast. https://tradingeconomics.com

/nigeria/food-inflation

Nairametrics 2020. nairametrics.com/2020/03/17/nigeria-inflation-rate-hits-12-2-as-food-index-rises/

 

Nairametrics 2020. Prices of food items jump across Lagos markets, as traders lament transport fare hike. https://nairametrics.com/2020/06/03/prices-of-food-items-jump-across-lagos-markets-as-traders-lament-transport-hike/

Folasade Adegboye, PhD

Guest Contributor

Department of Banking and Finance

Covenant University. Ota

Nigeria

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Food Availability during COVID-19 Pandemic in Qatar

* This is part of our series on the nexus between COVID-19 and food systems.

State of Qatar, one of the Gulf Cooperation Countries’ (GCC) biggest economies and less populous countries, is being hit hard by the impact of the COVID - 19 pandemic. A sharp fall in international oil prices, has seriously affected Qatar like other major players in the oil and gas industry.  The pandemic outbreak has led to fragility in food security. There is little doubt that there is an impending issue of food insecurity, not only in Qatar, but also in many other nations.

The threat to the availability of food and balanced nutrition arises because of the pandemic’s disruptions except insofar as proactive measures are taken to protect people’s food security. This has been echoed repeatedly by the United Nation (UN), Food, Organization and Agriculture (FAO) and the World Bank. However, this situation is being taken care successfully in Qatar based on their policy and quick reaction to ease the burden of disrupted access to relatively cheap food.  The various factors that are playing important roles to attain this feat are explained below.

Fresh Produce Market in Doha, Qatar

Qatar Food Reserve/ Adequate Food Stock Policies

Prior to the pandemic Qatar was a proactive country that has a robust food policy to ensure that food is always available. The State's strategic reserve of food items is sufficient to sustain people for more than a year, which invariably makes the country less vulnerable to irregular food availability. Qatar have adequate emergency food reserves, or strategic stocks, that are well maintained. These reserves are held at the national level. The pandemic could not really have an adverse effect on food availability because the established emergency reserves are enough to sustain the country for more than a year. This assertion is corroborated by a statement made by the HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari that food availability can last for years.

Food Importation

Like every other GCC countries, a larger percentage of food and other edible items are imported because they are situated in desert where soils are relatively unproductive for agriculture. The country's import policies remain unchanged and are being maintained without any alteration whatsoever. This invariably allows most of Qatar’s relevant players in the food chain function effectively, which consequently makes food available at the various outlets to meet the demand of customers. Despite local production, the importation of food items does not infringe at all on food imports both through the air and through sea. The processing of food consignments at various ports is accelerated so that food gets to the wholesale markets earlier enough and subsequently to the retailer and final consumers respectively. Finally, the existing financing instruments such as bank loans are relaxed and made more flexible because of this pandemic crises. The financial institutions ensure the provision of import financing so that food importers are assisted at this crucial time in order to address or handle any potential food price volatility. These measures have made the availability of food stable through this trying period.

Food Price Stability

Qatar’s relevant institutions are playing vital roles to ensure that food prices are stable so that everyone can have stable purchasing power to buy food, which makes food available to Qatar’s consumers. Those measures include the encouragement of heavy investments in the local agricultural production and productivity, which makes food abundant in various food selling outlets at stable and reasonable prices. Also, the policies on ground encourage the farmers and private sector to intensify more food production. In addition, there is tremendous transparency and timely dissemination of information relevant to policies related to food security.

A new Central Market, Al Sailiya, Qatar

Provision of palliative initiatives

Qatar government, institutions and charity organization took drastic measures in response to COVID 19 to put in place initiatives targeted at taking adequate care of residents and expatriate professionals as well as workers in Qatar. Enough food was made available through a well-designed and coordinated mechanism involving the various embassies and mission houses in the country responsible for various nationalities. People who cannot afford food visit their embassies to collect food that can last them for weeks. The system has been orderly and functional. As a Nigerian, I collected my palliative food at the Nigerian Embassy at the arranged time. Apart from the government, charity organization and individual continue to distribute food to the people.

In conclusion, considering the aforementioned facts, the availability of food at affordable price during this trying period is maintained based on the several measures the Qatar Government put in place before the crisis and these measures continue to be sustained.  

Mr. Suraj .A. Bello B. Agric., MSc. MBA, ITPM (UK), PhD (In view)

Guest Contributor

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences

Qatar University, Qatar.

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Resolving asymmetric information....

Abstract

People consume food not only to satisfy hunger but also for cultural, religious and social reasons. In Islam there is an emphasis on cleanliness in both spirit and food (Agriculture and Agri-food Canada 2011). Eating is perceived to be a form of worship (Talib et al., 2015). Halal is Islamic dietary law derived from the Quran and Hadith, the practices of the Prophet Mohammad, Ijma and Qiyas (Regenstein et al., 2003). Halal goes beyond religious obligation. It is part of the Islamic way of life which includes not only dietary requirements but also behaviour, speech, dress, and conduct (Talib et al., 2015a). Furthermore, observing the tenets of halal can guarantee food safety and serve as a business model for the Canadian export market. The benefits of halal notwithstanding, a lack of trust in the market can jeopardize the food’s perceived authenticity and provide traceability challenges. This especially affects Somali, Syrian, Pakistani and Afghani Canadians who prefer halal meat’s taste and require it for cultural and religious reasons. New policies are therefore a prerequisite to strengthening the halal food value chain thereby reducing asymmetric halal information.

To explore please on the link below:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41055-020-00072-7

Adekunle, B., Filson, G. Understanding halal food market: Resolving asymmetric information. Food ethics 5, 13 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41055-020-00072-7

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Behind The Aroma - Episode 5 (The Shared Platter)

Bibliography

1.     Adekunle, B., (2020). Cultural Illusion. ECV Ontario Blog. http://evcontario2011.blogspot.com/2020/02/cultural-illusions.html.

2.     Adekunle, B., (2018). Autonomous Vehicles and Agri-Food Value Chain. ECV Ontario Blog. http://evcontario2011.blogspot.com/2018/07/autonomous-vehicles-and-agri-food-value.html.

3.     Adrian V. Jaeggi and Carel P. van Schaik (2011). The evolution of food sharing in primates.  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Vol. 65(11).

4.     Bahuchet, S (1990). Food Sharing Among the Pygmies of Central Africa. African Study Monographs. II (I): pp 27-53, June 1990.

5.     Bazile D., Bertero D., Nieto C. (2015). State of the art report on quinoa around the world in 2013.  The dynamics of the global expansion of quinoa growing in view of its high biodiversity, Publisher: FAO / CIRAD, pp.42-55.

6.     Bogaard A, Charles, M., Twiss, C. K., Fairbairn, A (2009).  Private pantries and celebrated surplus: storing and sharing food at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia. Antiquity, Vol. 83 (321) pp. 649-668

7.     De Backer, C J. S., Fisher, M. L.,  Poels, K., Ponnet, K., (2015).  Our" food versus "my" food. Investigating the relation between childhood shared food practices and adult prosocial behavior in Belgium. Appetite, Vol 84, pp 54-60

8.     Fieldhouse, P (1996).  Community shared agriculture.  Agriculture and Human Values. Vol. 13, pp 43–47

9.     Isaac, G (1978). The Food-sharing Behavior of Protohuman Hominids Author(s): Scientific American, Vol. 238(4), pp. 90-109

10.  Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation (1989). The National Academy of Sciences Engineering Medicine.  Chapter: Quinoa. Pp 148 – 161

11.  Michael Gurven, M., Hill, K., Kaplan, H., Hurtado, A., and Lyles, R. (2000).  Food Transfers Among Hiwi Foragers of Venezuela: Tests of Reciprocity. Human Ecology, Vol. 28(2).

12.  Quinoa in the Kitchen. G. Canale & C. Spa, Borgaro Torinese (Turin) (2013). Retrieved on April 1^st 2020.  http://www.fao.org/3/a-ar895e.pdf

13.  Stewart, J. L., (1869). Punjab Plants Comprising Botanical and Vernacular Name and Uses.

14.  Springer, K (2020). From Pakistan to the Caribbean: Curry's journey around the world. CNN • Updated 23rd January 2020.  https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/curry-origins-history/index.html.

15.  Ziker, B. J., (2005).  Food Sharing at Meals Kinship, Reciprocity, and Clustering in the Taimy Autonomous Okrug, Northern Russia, State University Michael Schnegg. 2005 Jun; Vol.16(2): pp. 178-210.

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The Butcher's Impressions

Butcher's Store

Below is a conversation between a butcher and one of his customers.

Butcher: Hello Mr. Hamad

Mr. Hamad: Good afternoon IB. Please can I get four kilograms of organic chevon?

Butcher: "Organic chevon"? I sell zabiha meat here. In other words, my meat is halal.

Mr. Hamad: So, you think halal is only about the slaughter process (zabiha). I have explored the field and learnt that 100% halal should be organic, GMO free, quarantined when exposed to antibiotics, avoid exposing animals to stress and no growth hormones.

Butcher: Your description of halal will make meat expensive.

Mr. Hamad: The interesting thing about cheap is that it may become expensive in the long run.

Butcher: So, what are you suggesting?

Mr. Hamad: There is a nexus between organic and halal. Though scholars and food experts ignore it.

Butcher: You have changed since you visited ECVOntario at the University of Guelph!

Mr. Hamad: This is the beginning ... I have stopped using atrazine and glyphosate on my farm. 

Butcher: All the best with your new journey...

By

Bamidele Adekunle @badekunl

July 12, 2019

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Cultural Illusions

Dar es  Salaam, Tanzania

Below is a discussion between a professor and his student. The conversation ensued between the duo after the student spent a semester in the professor’s class on the definition and relativity of knowledge.

Keteh: Prof. I appreciate taking this course with you and I hope I will be able to take other courses with you. I started skipping classes, except your lectures, because I don’t get new or insightful information from the classroom. At times, I wonder whether it is worthwhile spending so much on education?

Prof. Agravante: Don’t quit! A degree certificate is a signaling device. You will undersell yourself if you don’t have one. And the connections you make on campus are invaluable. Furthermore, your culture respects people who are educated.

Keteh: What do you think about culture? I think my culture is stuck in the past.

Prof. Agravante: Don’t say that. Culture is dynamic, people just pretend as if it’s static. As far as I am concerned it’s an illusion. Do you think your people have the same values now as compared to pre-colonization?

Keteh: It is a struggle! Though material wealth and economic development are apparent.

Prof. Agravante: I advise you shouldn’t rely on Gross Domestic Products (GDP) because it may not capture household chores, reciprocity, and other activities that contribute to wellbeing and life expectancy.

Keteh: GDP for sure encourages environmental degradation and conspicuous consumption.

Prof. Agravante: The interesting thing is that some people think individualism is the cornerstone of economic development. Leading to a faulty perception that altruism is not efficient.

Keteh: It’s not a problem where I come from. My people are cultured and considerate.

Prof. Agravante: Ethnocentric assertion …

Keteh: How do you mean Prof?

Prof. Agravante: Your people are not special. It’s just your impression that you have superior values and norms.

Keteh: At least we still believe in cooperation.

Prof. Agravante: As if there are no selfish or individualistic people in your community. Furthermore, people are the same. For example, porters hawk fish on their heads at the Billingsgate market in London in the 1940’s. But today people will think its only people from certain developing countries who carry loads on their heads.

Keteh: Capitalism has strengthened growth and affected way of life.

Prof. Agravante: I hope you are not insinuating that capitalism is the best-case scenario? Do you think tertiary education should be a luxury? And I didn’t see the American dream in certain cities in the United States with food deserts. And in a city, restaurants and gas stations claim they don’t have washrooms and dilapidated buildings are ubiquitous in certain neighborhoods. So, what is it about capitalism that impresses you?

Keteh: Well I think a blend will be appropriate. People should be able to operate within a defined property right and there should be safety nets for people who are unable to compete due to no fault of theirs.

Prof. Agravante: I agree there should be social schemes in terms of education, employment, and health among others. But reforms are required because policies can easily become dated and people may exploit them.

Keteh: On the issue of food deserts, why is it easy to get liquor but not food (not junk) in certain neighborhoods? Are you damned if you belong to a race or live in a specific postal code?

Prof. Agravante: You better don’t become an activist. The world is a complex place, and nothing is linear.

Keteh: I would prefer to be a philosopher on my path in the pursuit of happiness.

Prof. Agravante: Happiness, success, and expectations are ascribed by a prevailing culture. Based on this premise, people look for a signaling device to assert they are doing well.

Keteh: Signaling device?

Prof. Agravante: Yes, because those concepts are vague, people develop tangible things to show they have arrived! Even though it is difficult to measure success and happiness.

Keteh: Based on my upbringing, success is a function of the expectations of the society. And if you are successful you are bound to be happy.

Prof. Agravante: Your explanation lacks logic. Society/culture has not been consistent in defining anything. The painful thing is that these concepts have been defined by misconceptions and biased constructions. They are mostly realities based on reinforced illusions.

Keteh: Meaning?

Prof. Agravante: If people in your area drop out of school after primary school, your cousins got pregnant at 18 years, and your men are not around not necessarily based on their fault. Your worldview will be a function of these experiences.

Keteh: Some people grew up in those places and they did well eventually.

Prof. Agravante: Keteh, always remember there are exceptions.

Keteh: Yes professor, I have been thinking and I agree with you that a reinforced illusion becomes our reality.

Prof. Agravante: If not, why should Hermes Himalayan Birkin cost more than $500,000, why a coffee from a civet cat waste – kopi luwak – be the most expensive coffee, and Grasshopper (Nsenene) a delicacy among the Batooro people of Uganda.

Keteh: So, is culture meaningless?

Prof. Agravante: Not necessarily! People define and create meanings. And some custodians prefer to keep the status quo at the expense of progress.

Keteh: Why should a bag cost $500,000? Maybe it is expensive because of quality.

Prof. Agravante: Price signals quality? Not necessarily. Perception plays a significant role.

Keteh: True. Advances in technology and medicine have made diseases thought to be a death sentence now treatable. Perceptions have changed over time.

Prof. Agravante: Even money is perception based. If it’s not acceptable then it can’t serve as a legal tender. Many currencies are useless outside their domain.

Keteh: Perception translates to relevance. My parents told me that Christianity was defined in Iznik, Turkey. I also don’t understand the transformation of Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) from a church to a mosque and now a tourist center.

Prof. Agravante: Your parents are alluding to the Nicene Creed. It was approved at the first council of Nicaea (now Iznik) AD 325. Christological issue, Nicene creed (uniform Christian doctrine), and uniform observance of Easter were resolved at this meeting.

Decisions at the meeting shaped Christianity in later years.

The transformation of Ayasofya is the effect of time and change in perception.

Keteh: The issue of God is very important in my culture, but my spouse seems to be agnostic.

Prof. Agravante: If your spouse is agnostic, he is not the only one. A certain percentage of me is agnostic. And belief in God is of different variations (atheist, polytheist, monotheist) but they all have a commonality…

Keteh: And what’s that?

Prof. Agravante: They all provide an explanation to what we don’t understand.

Keteh: Explanation?

Prof. Agravante: Yes, Odu Ifa (16 * 16 = 256) of the Yoruba people explains based on probability. Hammurabi Yasasi (The code of Hammurabi) created a hierarchical standard for mode of behavior. For example, Law #265 "If a herdsman, to whose care cattle or sheep have been entrusted, be guilty of fraud and make false returns of the natural increase, or sell them for money, then shall he be convicted and pay the owner ten times the loss."

Keteh: Nagode Prof. What is your position on the relationship between culture and language?

Prof. Agravante: You speak English but culturally you are not English. Quick question – Can you speak your mother tongue? Many languages in West Africa have similarities – Ewe, Ga, Akan, Yoruba, Atakpame (Ife Togo), Krio all have common words. Swahili is related to Arabic and Bantu languages in East and Southern Africa.

And below are what Ibo and Yoruba people call certain parts of the body (similarities are glaring).

Part	Yoruba	Ibo
Mouth	Enu	Onu
Nose	Imu	Imi
Ear	Eti	Nti

Keteh: What about food?

Prof. Agravante: It’s difficult to claim monopoly of food because travel, globalization, education among other factors affect cultural cuisines. Some of your cultural foods this year (2020) may be extinct in hundred years’ time (2120).

Keteh: Time changes everything. Oh, I just missed a call from my friend. We have been looking for a way to convince her husband to let her enroll for masters and delay childbearing.

Prof. Agravante: It is also part of your culture that women should bear the brunt of raising a family?

Keteh: Hmm … that’s deep.

Prof. Agravante: Surrogacy can be explored, and egg freezing is becoming popular. Scientists are also working on a drug that will pause production of eggs (during chemo treatment for cancer patients) which can also be applied to delay childbearing and extend menopause.

Keteh: A drug to reduce the depletion of the 300,000 – 400,000 eggs at puberty and freezing of fertile eggs are options available to the elites.

Prof. Agravante: I think you can get insurance and some futuristic companies already support their employees financially.

Keteh: I need to leave now. But Prof. where do you think I should spend my next vacation?

Prof. Agravante: The Msafiri. You can pick one of – Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain; Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru; Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania; Canadian Rockies (especially Jasper).

Keteh: Muchas gracias.

Prof. Agravante: De nada.

By

Bamidele Adekunle @badekunl

February 11, 2020

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