Agribusiness entrepreneur and founder of Ideal Providence Farms, Georgina Koomson, has advised consumers to expect ginger prices to remain high for some time.
She said the increase is mainly due to disease outbreaks that have badly affected ginger production.
Speaking in an interview, Ms. Koomson explained that many ginger farmers have experienced heavy losses after diseases destroyed large portions of their farms, reducing overall production.
“The ginger producers had a lot of diseases. So it affected the production,” she said.
She noted that while production has gone down, demand for ginger continues to increase. This is especially because many companies in the herbal drink industry use ginger as a major ingredient in their products.
“We also have a lot of ginger companies doing herbal drinks using ginger. So there is demand as well. The demand has gone up,” she noted.
According to her, the combination of lower supply and higher demand has caused ginger prices to rise sharply, and the situation is not expected to improve anytime soon.
“So ginger has become very expensive. It will be expensive for the next two years,” Ms. Koomson stated, adding that consumers should prepare themselves for higher market prices.
“They should be prepared to pay for a higher price,” she added.
To help solve the problem, Ms. Koomson called for more investment in agricultural research. She said researchers need to help farmers develop and grow ginger varieties that can better resist diseases.
“That’s where the researchers come into it. We need to do a lot of research and then also help the farmers to improve their varieties that they are going to be disease resistant,” she explained.
She stressed that researchers, agricultural extension officers, and farmers must work together to strengthen Ghana’s ginger industry and ensure stable production in the future.
