Agribusiness consultant explains the dynamics of maize price crash
Mr Sidik Baba Sulemana, an Agriculture Value Chain Consultant, says the sharp fall in maize prices following Ghana’s bumper harvest in 2025 presents both opportunities and challenges for the country’s food system.
He said while the price decline offered relief to consumers, it placed severe financial pressure on farmers, particularly smallholder producers who depended on maize sales for household income.
He explained this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency and said maize was one of Ghana’s most important staple crops, that accounts for about 25 to 30 per cent of the country’s caloric intake and consumed by more than 80 per cent of the population in various forms such as kenkey, tuo zaafi (TZ), porridge, asaana and banku.
He said the crop was cultivated across all agro-ecological zones of the country by an estimated 1.8 million smallholder farmers, who constitute about 90 per cent of producers.
Mr Sulemana explained that the 2025 farming season recorded impressive yields, resulting in a surplus on the market and a significant drop in prices.
“My checks at the Tamale and Atebubu-Amantin markets indicate that a 100-kilogramme bag of maize, which sold between GH¢1,000 and GH¢1,200 in 2024, is currently being sold at between GH¢300 and GH¢350 in Tamale, and GH¢500 to GH¢600 in Accra,” he added.
He noted that the price slump had triggered mixed reactions among stakeholders, exposing the delicate balance between protecting farmers’ welfare and ensuring affordable food for consumers.
He said, “For maize farmers, particularly smallholders who rely on the sale of surplus produce for income, the price crash has been devastating”.
“Production costs have increased significantly in recent years, with fertilizer and agrochemical prices rising between 50 and 100 per cent,” he added.
Mr Sulemana noted that under current market conditions many farmers were unable to recover their production costs.
He said the majority of maize farmers cultivated mainly for household consumption and sold only excess produce to meet family needs such as education, healthcare, and other household expenses.
He lamented that with prices now far below expectations, incomes of farming households were shrinking, threatening their overall welfare.
“In the short term, many farmers may struggle to repay production loans, default on debts, or even leave part of their harvest unsold due to lack of buyers and storage facilities,” he said.
He added that the situation could discourage farmers from expanding production in the next farming season, which could also affect rural employment, particularly among youth and women involved in the maize value chain.
Mr Sulemana, however, said the price decline had brought some relief to urban consumers, especially low-income households that spent a significant portion of their income on food.
He explained that in Ghana, where non-farm households constitute more than 60 per cent of the population, lower maize prices translated into improved purchasing power for many families.
He noted that reduced food prices could also ease food inflation, stabilise real wages, and stimulate consumption-led growth in the economy.
Mr Sulemana cautioned that sustained low prices could undermine Ghana’s long-term food security and said if farmers became discouraged by low returns and reduced production in subsequent seasons, the country could face future supply shortages and increased dependence on imported grains.
Persistent price volatility, he added, could also weaken investor confidence in the agricultural sector, limiting private sector participation in storage, processing, and value addition.
Mr Sulemana therefore called for both immediate and long-term interventions along the maize value chain to address the situation and recommended increased capitalisation of the Ghana Buffer Stock Company to enable it to purchase maize at guaranteed and reasonable prices during periods of oversupply.
He also advocated reducing taxes on agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, improved seeds and agrochemicals, or providing targeted subsidies to lower production costs for farmers.
Source: GNA