How Ghana’s COVID-19 measures locked down ‘food for the working poor’

Ghana announced its first two imported cases of COVID-19 on the 12th of March 2020. By the 7th of May, the cases had shot up to 3,091 with 18 deaths. Accra, the capital city has become the epicentre of the outbreak. To contain the spread, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) shut down and fumigated all markets in the city on the 23rd of March. Although there were assurances that the markets would reopen immediately after the exercise, panic buying started in earnest in anticipation of a lockdown which was already on the grapevine. The markets did open the following day.  As expected, a two-week partial lockdown of cities with a high number of COVID-19 cases began on the 30th of March. The Ghana army and police force were tasked to enforce the lockdown regulations. Food traders and other services deemed essential were exempted from the quarantine. However, as foodstuff sellers continued to sell, there were no shoppers.

Food traders in Accra travel to rural areas to aggregate food and so the lockdown has had profound implications for food marketing and distribution. It is worthy to note that seasonal food shortages are common in many agrarian areas especially between February and July. The coronavirus pandemic therefore coincides with this period when food security is in a state of flux.  COVID-19 exacerbates this situation, yet in a public announcement by the minister of food and agriculture, he confidently assured citizens that “there is more than enough food in the system to take us through this very difficult period’. Not only are the claims of food availability questionable, under the partial lockdown situation, the problems of food distribution and marketing cannot be overstated.

In Accra, changes in access to and affordability of garri, an essential but less revered cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) grits, in Accra and other major cities, is a typical case in point. Pre-coronavirus, the selling price of one olonka (a local measuring standard, approx.2.5kg) of garri was GH¢8. Between 20th and 31st March, the price of garri tripled. The peak of this price hike was the weekend leading to the lockdown- immediately after the president officially announced the plan (see figure below). As described by a trader, the skyrocketed price of garri was “shocking’, but not unexpected”. However, the price almost halved a week after the lockdown with more garri and no buyers, yet above the pre-covid-19 garri price.  see Figure below: 

Effects  of COVID-19 on the price of Garri. 

Garri continues to be the most popular processed and convenient food in Ghana which is less perishable. It is versatile, quick to prepare, and a students’ companion. Although cassava remains a common traditional staple countrywide, and the popularity of its meals are not differentiated by class, over the years, consuming garri or too much of it, fits a stereotypical image of poverty or food insecurity. A trader emphasized the importance of garri to the urban poor and the negative impacts of COVID-19 during a market survey saying,

“…my customers who buy garri are ordinary people. Many do not have refrigerators to store food. Besides, some do not even have cooking appliances or utensils. Even those who have are not sure of the stability of electricity and water. Garri, therefore, comes in handy”   (Mama Delali, Trader, Mamobi, Accra, April 7, 2020)

Within a short window, COVID-19 has exposed the volatility in food access, and how the good intentions of COVID-19 containment and prevention measures can also exacerbate inequality within the food system. This case is just one of the many examples of food security situation in Ghana in the heat of the pandemic. The impacts of lockdown of cities are affecting the urban poor, net food buyers, informal workers who live hand to mouth and homeless city dwellers. Although in Ghana, the partial lockdown of markets eventually initially excluded trade in foodstuff, speculations had already made access to “food for the poor ” challenging as there was restriction on movement from non-lockdown regions, to the lockdown ones. Since the essential food items consumed in Accra are sourced from other regions, restriction on movement affected food availability and affordability.  To a large extent, more food marketers, than farmers, artisans and rural food processors gained from the food price windfall driven by COVID-19.

Contributed by Gertrude Dzifa Torvikey and Adwoa Yeboah Gyapong

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