Editorial
Agric Minister needs better statistics
Dear Editor,
I was taken aback by the Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto’s response to complaints about increasing food prices in the country.
He told a press conference recently that statistics available to him did not point to an increase in food prices as members of the public indicated.
According to him, Planting for Food and Jobs continued to yield results and that, areas recording high food prices did so as a result of low rainfall. The responses, therefore, suggested that reports about increase in food prices could not be true.
I thought Dr. Akoto would have eaten a humble pie and said the ministry was taking steps to ensure there were more supplies on the market so prices of commodities could come down but he rather chose a different perspective.
While I cannot begrudge the minister for expressing his thoughts, I hope he soon gets a clearer picture of the concerns of citizens if he began looking at further and better statistics.
Philip Okran,
Suhum.