Happy And Prosperous 2008

WELCOME TO the year 2008… To paraphrase the words of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, at long last… the time has come for the ordinary Ghanaian to face the struggle of life.

The toil of the farmers, traders and consumers have brought us this far. Here we must be thankful to the Almighty God for His role in securing our lives from the shackles of death and the struggle to survive.

Market Watch (MW) says congratulations to its cherished readers and every Ghanaian who was able to make it through thick and thin, notwithstanding their empty pockets during 2007 to usher in the New Year.

Rejoice over the fact that we have stayed together as one nation over the last year even though not as comfortably as we would have preferred.

This year and other years ahead must see Ghana rising even higher among the comity of nations with the ordinary citizen walking with his head and shoulders held high, signifying the abundance of CASH in his pocket.

The challenge is to unify our talents and forces available for the next chapter in the struggle against poverty.

Every year comes with its own pickle. Last year was termed as the 'Year of Heat' for the ordinary Ghanaian. Even though we are witnesses to the stability of the nation's economy, the impact of the good news in the physical pockets of the ordinary civil servant was nothing good to talk about.

As a concerned citizen, DAILY GUIDE introduced Market Watch, a new page last year to educate fellow consumers on Ghanaian market trends. During the year, we spoke to some traders for an insight into their industry when we visited their work places at some markets.

When they presented their sentiments about the way the market was faring, we realized that even though most consumable items were available on the market with some at moderate prices, consumers were not patronizing them due to the non-availability of money in their pockets.

We also spoke to market queens who were uniquely positioned to observe and participate in moving traders from the principal streets in the country.

Their interviews make for an interesting read. There were also cries for the government to intervene in the high cost of transportation in moving foodstuffs from the hinterlands to the urban cities since it contributes to the high prices of such commodities.

In this year's edition of Market Watch, we would continuously take our cherished readers on tour to the various market places not only in Accra but other big cities.

We would interact with the farmers, middlemen and women, drivers, and producers of other commodities on the markets.

Who can forget about the kente weaver, the butchers, the cement seller, the coffin maker (carpenter) and a host of others who are contributing to the livelihood of the ordinary Ghanaian?

It is not all about fun! Market Watch will also provide you with a bi-weekly tabulation of the retail prices of some commodities on the nation's principal markets as presented by the Statistics, Research & Information Directorate (SRID) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).

The initiative is to help our readers to equip themselves with current prices on the market, and also aid them to know when and where to go shopping.

Your regulars, together with great pictures from all the interesting places Market Watch will cover during the year, would help you learn to purchase goods in bulk as you save some money.

It would assist you to preserve foodstuffs purchased during the bumper seasons through to the lean seasons, and also beat the fluctuation of market prices.

The following figures are the prices of some foodstuffs on some markets as at week-ending January 5, 2008.

By Henrietta Abayie