IMPLICATIONS OF THE WORLD FOOD CRISES ON TRENDS OF LOCAL FOOD PRICES IN THE UPPER EAST REGION OF GHANA

The global food crisis led to upward trends in food prices across the world. The millions of impoverished people living in developing countries including Ghana were the worst affected by the phenomenal increases in world food prices. This paper examines the implications of the global food crisis on the trends of food prices in the Upper East Region of Ghana. The data used for the analyses were average monthly prices of some selected grain cereals, grain legumes, vegetables, and root and tuber food items consumed in the region. The data were gathered from the Upper East Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The analyses revealed that on the average, the prices of food items grew over 200 percent during the last twenty years. However, the all time record high increase in food prices in the Upper East Region of Ghana was recorded in 2008 which is estimated as over 100 percent. It is concluded that the global food crisis among other things translated positively in terms of prices in the Upper East Region of Ghana. This has had negative effects on the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals especially on the reduction of extreme poverty and hunger in the area where over 80 percent of the people are said to be poor. It is recommended that farmers in the area should be supplied with subsidized farm inputs and credit facilities to help boost their production levels to help mitigate the effects of hunger, malnutrition and poverty on the vulnerable – women, children and the physically challenged