Delays at checkpoints contributing to post-harvest losses and high cost of food in Ghana

Delays, harassment and extortion of money by Police officers along some notable roads from major food cultivation areas in the Northern Region have been contributing to post-harvest losses (PHL), leading to the consistent upsurge in food prices, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has said. PFAG believes that the reduction in stoppage time and checkpoints for cargo vehicles carrying food products will tremendously lessen the holdup duration that contributes to PHL even before arrival to market centres. The group says farmers, aggregators and traders have been left with no option than to factor in cost of the losses and spread it to cover the few harvests that are able to make it to market in order to benefit from the investment made. This, instructively, raises the cost of foodstuffs on the market. The association is therefore imploring government to institute one designated barrier per region on major transportation routes from the northern sector of the ...