The President of the Artisanal Palm Oil Millers and Outgrowers Association of Ghana, Mr. Paul Kwabena-Amaning, is calling for the promotion of a resilient and thriving oil palm sector. He has called on the government to invest more in the production of palm oil which will help reduce the high cost of raw materials in the oil palm sector.
Mr. Kwabena- Amaning has revealed that the oil palm sector has broader implications on the economy, including price stability, exchange rate stability, and generation of export revenues from the sector.
He added that the inability to address food supply conditions could in the long run jeopardise the Central Bank’s mandate of price stability.
He opined that food inflation is driven by oil Palm demand. Since May 2021, the inflation data have pointed to a gradual increase in food prices, and this trend has intensified in recent months on the back of the recent Russian-Ukraine crises. Food inflation hit 30.1% in May 2022, significantly up from 5.4% in May 2021.
Paul Amaning stated that because the Russia-Ukraine production of sunflower and other vegetable oil has reduced-thus there is high demand for tropical oil like palm oil and coconut which has led to the increase of raw materials which has affected palm oil production.
In an interview with Kingdom FM, he disclosed that “increase demand of Fresh fruit bunches which has led an increase in the cost of production affecting prices of crude palm oil thereby affecting palm oil-related commodities in our supermarket and shops. Eg vegetable oil sold 98 cedis in 2017?is 480 cedis plus today all because there high demand for Crude Palm Oil pushing the price up,
According to him, further insights into the data reveal a faster acceleration of food inflation, relative to non-food inflation.
Therefore, the inability to address food supply conditions, he said, could in the long run jeopardises the Central Bank’s mandate of price stability.