Tema traders blame weather changes for high yam prices

Traders at the Tema Community One market has blamed the surge in prices of yam on changes in weather patterns.Yam prices have sharply increased in Tema Community One Market, with small tubers now selling between GHs25 and GHs40, while medium-sized yams are priced between GHs60 and GHs80.According to the traders and sellers, the price increase was primarily due to changing weather patterns that have affected the harvest, leading to a scarcity of yam on the market.They said the insufficient rainfall during the farming season had resulted in poor harvests, leaving markets with fewer yams than expected.Mrs. Grace Appiah, a yam trader, noted that the shortage of yams was largely due to insufficient rainfall.She said that if the rains had been more consistent, there would be a higher supply of yams.'There would have been an abundance of yam if it had rained properly. It is because of the poor rains that we do not have enough yam. I believe in the coming months we will have yam in abundance,' she stated.Others mentioned higher transportation costs due to increased fuel prices, adding to the overall expenses of getting yams from the farms to the markets.Ms. Beatrice Asante, another yam seller, said traders were not to blame for the high prices.She noted that the rising costs of farming inputs, such as fertilisers and pesticides, had significantly increased expenses for farmers.'We are not responsible for the high price of yams. The farmers are facing high production costs due to expensive farming inputs, which is driving up the price. We only add a small margin for profit,' she said.Ms. Mariam Ishawu, another trader, pointed out that rising labour costs had added to the burden on the farmers.She said, 'The increased expense of farming inputs, coupled with the need to hire additional labour, has made it more costly for farmers to produce yams.'She added that this was not the first year they had faced challenges in acquiring yam.Ms. Alberta Sowah, a fried yam vendor, said that she had temporarily shifted to selling fried potatoes instead of yam due to the high cost of the tuber.Source: Ghana News Agency