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Ghana is wasting food while its people go hungry – This must stop
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By dawn at Makola Market in Accra and the Agbogbloshie food hub, trucks arrive heavy with tomatoes from Tuobodom and plantains from the Ashanti region. By evening, a heartbreaking transformation occurs thus, crates of produce that softened in the tropical heat are tipped into black polythene bags and hauled to landfills. Meanwhile, just a few kilometers away, households are skipping meals or cutting portions because food prices have become a barrier to survival.
This contradiction is not just an unfortunate reality, it is a systemic failure. Ghana must treat food loss as a critical economic leak and transition from our current linear waste model to a Circular Food System, one that protects food before it spoils and transforms unavoidable waste into high-value assets like organic fertilizer and animal feed.
The High Cost of Normal Waste
Current estimates suggest that between 20% and 50% of food produced in Ghana never reaches a plate. In the middle-belt grain bins and coastal vegetable corridors, the lack of integrated cold chain systems means spoilage is built into the price of food. When a third of our fruits and vegetables rot, the Embedded Energy; the water, labor, and fertilizer used to grow them is also wasted. This inefficiency drives up market prices, making nutritious diets a luxury for the average Ghanaian family.
From Linear to Circular: The Solution
Our current system is linear where we produce, transport, sell, and discard. A circular system eliminates the concept of waste by focusing on three pillars:
1. Prevention and Stabilization: We must incentivize decentralized processing. Instead of tomatoes rotting in wooden crates, small-scale upcycling hubs can convert surplus into pastes or dried powders, extending shelf life from days to months.
2. Market Coordination: Improving the Physical Asset of our markets through better ventilation and solar-powered cold storage is cheaper than the cost of importing food to replace what we throw away.
3. Nutrient Recovery: What truly cannot be eaten should never reach a landfill. Organic market waste can be converted into high-quality compost or insect-based animal feed, returning vital nutrients to our depleted soils and reducing our reliance on expensive imported fertilizers.
A Call for Institutional Leadership
Individual behavior alone cannot fix a broken system. Real change requires a Policy Shield:
- The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) must move beyond production-only targets and prioritize post-harvest infrastructure and aggregation.
- District Assemblies must organize market waste separation to fuel local composting partnerships.
- The Private Sector should be incentivized to innovate in “last-mile” logistics and affordable cold chains.
Conclusion: The Choice is Ours
If Ghana continues to tolerate this level of waste, we are effectively buying hunger. A circular food system is not an academic ideal but a common sense with structure. We must protect our nutrition, organize our markets, and return life to our soil. The question is no longer whether we can afford to change, but how much longer we can afford to wait while our national assets rot in plain sight.
By Henrietta Appiah
On Sunday, August 13, 2026, the Church of Pentecost (COP) International, Finland, held an impressive church service in Helsinki in honour of and to welcome Prophet Benjamin Arthur as the new National Head.
The well-attended service formally ushered in Prophet Arthur who takes over from Apostle Francis Owusu Kwaah, who has been the National Head since November 2020 and whose tenure as the National Head ended last month.
Prophet Arthur arrived in Finland from the UK where he has held many positions in the church to replace Apostle Owusu Kwaah who moves back to the UK.
A touching welcome and powerful ministration
The church service was officiated by Apostle Seth Samuel Asante, the National Head of the Church of Pentecost, USA.
It was a touching welcome church service and ministration at a well-attended event. In attendance were many religious leaders from other churches or missions, as well as dignitaries.
Apostle Asante had the honour to introduce Prophet Arthur to the whole congregation as the new National Head in Finland. He was joined by other church leaders and officers from UK, USA, and Finland to pray for Prophet Arthur and handed him over to COP Finland as their new National Head to a huge applause.
Earlier, Apostle Asante delivered a powerful and touching sermon that highlighted a message of salvation and the importance of knowing, loving and serving God with one’s whole heart. He entreated the audience to love God and do His work to glorify his name.
Stirring up understandings from the hymns: “My faith has found a resting place…” and “Guide me O Thou great Jehovah…,” as well as a number of quotations from the Bible, the Apostle gave a powerful preaching on the need to build one’s faith in God.
Response from the new National Head
In response, Prophet Benjamin Arthur preached the power of prophecies and God’s plan for redemption. He entreated all to believe in God’s power especially through prophecies to save mankind. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, he noted and add: “The blood of Jesus is not shed in vain”.
Surrounded by his beloved wife, Mrs Eugenia Arthur, and their three children, Prophet Arthur expressed gratitude to the members of the church for the resounding welcome they have accorded him as he starts to embark on his role and duty as the National Head.
He recognised the exploits and excellent leadership roles of his predecessors, Apostle Edmund Appiah (who was the first National Head) and Apostle Francis Owusu Kwaah.
COP’s future and growth in Finland
The Church of Pentecost in Finland was established over 25 years ago. It started in September 2000 as a prayer group with a small number of devoted persons in Helsinki (see www.copfinland.fi).
The group grew fast and there was the need to secure a new place of worship in the Helsinki area. The Church has grown and spread to other towns and cities in Finland.
Today, in Helsinki alone there are two branches of the Church. There is the Akan Assembly where worship is done mostly in the Twi language. The other branch is the English Assembly (or the PIWC) which is attended by other nationalities and African immigrants aside Ghanaian immigrants.
The COP Finland has become very formidable in the religious space in the Ghanaian community in Finland.
It has thus played a prominent role in the religious or spiritual existence of its members, as well as in people’s social lives as a key aspect of integration into the Finnish society.
The church continues to grow and, for example, it has been one of the major channels through which the Ghana Union Finland (GUF), an association for Ghanaian immigrants in Finland, has made more contacts with members of the Ghanaian immigrant community.
With Dr Perpetual Crentsil
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Features
Responding to religious insults with faith, wisdom and restraint …The Prophetic Model for Muslim–Christian Peace and Coexistence(Part 1)
All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds. We praise Him, seek His help and forgiveness, and seek refuge in Him from the evil within ourselves and from our evil deeds.
May His Peace and Blessings be Upon the Noble Prophet Mohammed, his household, companions and all righteous people till the Last Day. Ameen
GHANA, WE MUST NOT ALLOW A MOMENT OF ANGER TO DESTROY DECADES OF PEACE
My dear brothers and sisters in Ghana.
Today I speak about something that should concern every Muslim, every Christian and every responsible Ghanaian.
Recent events involving controversial statements about Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the arrest of an Islamic cleric accused of making statements advocating violence, and the arrest of a Christian preacher over alleged derogatory comments concerning the Prophet (pbuh) have generated considerable national concern. The Ghana Police Service has said the matters are under investigation and that due process will apply.
And now, reports of an alleged assault on a detained pastor have added another troubling dimension to the matter.
Let us be very clear:
Ghana is not at war.
Muslims are not at war with Christians.
2 | P a g e
Christians are not at war with Muslims.
For generations, we have lived together, traded together, worked together, attended the same schools, built communities together and, in many Ghanaian families, even married across religious lines.
Therefore, we must not allow the reckless words or actions of a few individuals to destroy the peace built by generations.
WHEN SOMEONE INSULTS THE PROPHET (PBUH), WHAT DOES ISLAM EXPECT
FROM ME?
This is the question we must answer.
Not: “How angry am I?”
But: “What does Allah require from me?”
Not: “What can I do to my enemy?”
But: “What did Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) do when his enemies hurt him?”
This distinction is crucial.
Islam does not teach us to abandon our faith when we are provoked.
Islam teaches us how to behave because we have faith.
Allah says:
“Do not let the hatred of a people cause you to depart from justice. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness.” (Qur’an 5:8).
Notice the greatness of Islam.
Allah does not say, “Be just when people respect you.”
He says, be just even when you hate what they have done.
Therefore: An insult does not give me permission to become unjust.
The author is the Chief Imam of Katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governance Expert
By Imam Alhaji Saeed Abdulai
