Deputy Agric Minister, John Dumelo explains why there's a shortage of ginger in Ghana and why prices are high

Josephine Amuzu 11:26 - 10 April 2026

Deputy Agriculture Minister John Dumelo explains the rising ginger prices and shortage in Ghana.

Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, John Dumelo, has explained that the sharp rise in ginger prices across the country is due to a widespread crop disease affecting farmers.

According to him, many ginger farmers have been battling a disease, commonly referred to as ginger blight, which has destroyed large portions of their farms over the past two years.

There’s a strange ginger disease that has come and, for the last two years, it has affected most of the ginger farmers. So that’s how ginger has become so expensive, he explained.

He noted that the disease has significantly reduced harvest yields, leaving farmers with much smaller quantities of ginger to sell compared to previous years.

Most of the farmers, when they harvest, they get very little produce. Ginger that we used to sell one sack for about 300 to 400 is now about 3,000 to 3,500 for the same sack, same weight, everything, because of the disease,” he said.

The Deputy Minister stressed that the high prices are not due to market women or farmers exploiting consumers, but rather the reduced supply caused by the crop losses.

So it’s not like the market women or the farmers are exploiting us. No, no, he clarified.

John Dumelo further revealed that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is actively working to identify an effective treatment to control the disease and restore production levels.

But we, as the Ministry, are looking for an antidote for that disease. That might take some time, but I can assure you that we are working around the clock to battle that disease so that ginger production continues and the price comes down, he assured.

He also advised prospective farmers to hold off on entering ginger farming for now, warning that the current outbreak makes it a risky investment.

This is not the right time to go into ginger farming because of the disease. Hopefully, by the end of this year, we will find the right product to use against the disease,” he added.

Ginger is widely used in Ghanaian homes for cooking and medicinal purposes, making the price surge a major concern for households and businesses that rely heavily on the commodity.

Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. John Dumelo, explained why ginger is expensive on the Ghanaian market.

He stated that farmers are battling a disease, often described as “ginger blight,” on their farms that is wiping out entire fields and resulting in lower yields… pic.twitter.com/eDdpQ5oSUU
— 𝕏 Ghana 🇬🇭 (@xghana_) April 9, 2026

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