A new survey by the Northern Accelerated Intervention for Development (NAID) has revealed sharp reductions in the prices of key food commodities in Tamale, even as cooked food vendors continue to sell staple meals at unchanged and, in the view of observers, unjustifiably high prices.
The survey, conducted between December 29 and 31, 2025, involved interactive engagements with foodstuff sellers at the Aboabo Market in Tamale and tracked price movements over the past year. The findings show that prices of grains, vegetables, fuel for cooking and fish have dropped by as much as 50 per cent and more in some cases.
According to the report, a bag of maize which sold for GH¢800 last year is now selling at GH¢350, while local rice has dropped from GH¢700 to GH¢300. Imported rice has reduced from GH¢800 to GH¢450, and a bag of beans that previously sold for nearly GH¢3,000 now goes for GH¢1,500, with other varieties selling as low as GH¢1,200.
Vegetable prices have also seen significant declines. A cage of tomatoes has reduced from GH¢1,800 to GH¢900, pepper from GH¢900 to GH¢300, while a carton of ice fish (Amani) has dropped from GH¢650 to GH¢500.
Cooking fuel costs have similarly fallen. A bag of charcoal now sells at GH¢120, down from GH¢200, and a 14kg cylinder of cooking gas has reduced from GH¢270 to GH¢210.
Despite these reductions, NAID notes that the price of ready-to-eat meals such as tuo zaafi (TZ), banku and kenkey remains fixed at GH¢5 per ball across most food vending points in the metropolis.
“This situation raises serious questions of fairness and social responsibility,” said the Executive Director of NAID, Mohammed Saani Iddrisu. “The cost of raw foodstuffs and cooking fuel has gone down drastically, yet the ordinary consumer sees no relief when buying cooked food.”
Mr. Iddrisu described the development as particularly troubling given Tamale’s socio-economic context.
“This is a community with a high percentage of less-endowed people who struggle daily to survive,” he said. “Tamale is also known as a centre of strong religious and moral values, and pricing food beyond the reach of the vulnerable contradicts those values.”
He appealed directly to food vendors, especially women who dominate the sector, to reconsider their pricing strategies.
“Wealth is not built by overpricing but by being strategic, honest and faithful to customers,” Mr. Iddrisu said. “Our mothers and sisters should see consumers as their own people and show a social face in their business.”
The NAID Executive Director further called on local authorities and community leaders to intervene.
“I urge the Metropolitan Assembly, traditional authorities, religious leaders, youth groups and women’s advocates to rise to the challenge and impress upon food vendors to reduce prices, particularly for the disadvantaged,” he said.
NAID says it will continue to engage stakeholders to ensure that falling market prices translate into real relief for consumers at the food vendor level.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
