The Real Cost of Cheap Imports and Why Food Security Isn't About Yield Alone

Cheap food may seem affordable, but it conceals long-term systemic costs that threaten Ghana's food security. The country imports approximately $50 billion worth of food annually, with projections to reach $90-$110 billion by 2025 if no significant changes are made. Ghana's food import bill surpassed $3.5 billion last year, with some sources reporting it approaching $4 billion, including staples that can be produced locally. This dependency on external food sources is a concern, as it undermines local agricultural capacity and value chains.

Key Takeaways:

• Cheap imports often seem affordable but conceal longer-term, systemic costs that are more difficult to quantify.
• Job losses in local farming, processing, and distribution chains weaken rural economies and drive youth out of agriculture.
• Pressure on forex reserves forces governments to spend precious foreign currency on importing food rather than investing in domestic industries.
• Vulnerability to global price shocks causes sudden food shortages and price increases.
• The loss of food culture and biodiversity happens quietly, as local crops and cuisines start to vanish.
• Dependency on external food sources undermines local agricultural capacity and value chains.
• Local poultry farmers struggle to compete with imported chicken, which is often frozen leftovers that are less preferred in export markets.
• Imported rice dominates supermarket shelves, despite Ghana producing quality rice in regions like Volta, Upper East, and Ashanti.
• Real food security is not just about farming; it's about interlinked systems within various sectors that transform raw crops into reliable meals.
• Local value addition must become standard, and processing capacity must rise to prevent waste and retain value.
• Agro-logistics is key, including cold rooms, real-time tracking, rural road networks, and last-mile delivery systems.
• Finance access remains too shallow, and smallholder farmers and agro-SMEs need better tools like cooperative credit schemes, crop-indexed insurance, and grant-matched funding.
• Consumer culture is important, and Ghanaians need to trust, prefer, and feel proud to buy Ghana-made food.
• From farm to fork, every link matters, and every break in the chain makes us more vulnerable.

Statistics:

• Ghana imports approximately $50 billion worth of food annually, with projections to reach $90-$110 billion by 2025 if no significant changes are made.
• Last year, Ghana's food import bill surpassed $3.5 billion, with some sources even reporting it approaching $4 billion, including staples that can be produced locally.
• Post-harvest losses in Ghana range from 20% to 40%, especially for perishables like tomatoes, yam, and plantain.
• More than 80% of the chicken consumed in Ghana is imported, often from the US and the EU.

Sources:

• The Business and Financial Times article "The Real Cost of Cheap Imports and Why Food Security Isn't About Yield Alone" by Dr. Maxwell Ampong
• Maxwell Investments Group
• Ghana National Museum
• Ghana's Trade Union Congress (TUC)
• Africa School of Entrepreneurship