The impact of transportation cost on the prices of foodstuffs in urban areas: a case study of Kumasi

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Date
1990-04-19
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Abstract
In the marketing of foodstuffs transportation is an important function in the whole process. Foodstuffs must be moved often hundreds of kilometres from the farms and villages where they are produced to the towns and cities where they are consumed. With rapid rate of urbanization in Ghana, the proportion of total f6od production that has to be marketed and distributed is rapidly increasing thereby making the role transportation has to play very vital in the development process of the country. Foodstuffs prices tend to be very high in urban areas when compared with that of the rural areas. It is argued that, the wide variation in prices between the urban and rural areas is due to high transportation cost incurred in carting the foodstuffs from the rural areas to the urban areas. It was in this light that, this study was undertaken with the objectives of assessing the extent to which transport cost affect the final prices of five major foodstuffs in Kumasi the factors that affect the transport cost and the formulation of proposals to help reduce transportation cost and prices of foodstuffs in urban areas. The methodology used, involved the collection of secondary data through library research and primary data from field studies; and the analysis of the data collected, including the use of the Analytical Framework. Analysis of field data showed that marketing cost constitute a significant proportion of the final prices of the foodstuffs, Of the total marketing cost transport cost accounted between 44.7 to 73.3 percent. In terms of the final prices of the foodstuffs the percentage of transport cost was between 5.14 to 12.6 percent. There was a positive correlation between conditions of road, distance travelled and transport cost. (that is fare charged were very high on poor roads than on good road surface and varied with distance). A regression model established between condition of road, distance travelled and transport cost for the movement of maize revealed that improvement in road conditions will lead to a significant reduction in transport cost. From the analysis it was realized that there is the need for the provision of extensive road network in the major food producing areas and the improvement and maintenance of existing ones, in order to reduce transportation cost. Since a reduction in transportation cost is one of the important variables in inducing or facilitating increased evacuation and distribution of foodstuffs which will invariably lead to a reduction in the prices of foodstuffs.
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A thesis submitted to the Board of Postgraduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Development Planning, 1990
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