‘Kofi Broke man’, kelewele, konkonte no longer for the poor
‘Kofi Broke man’ Ghana’s most popular delicacy is no longer food for the poor as prices of plantain have drastically shot up. This is affecting various food chains that provide the basic plantain staple that many people reach for when hunger beckons.
‘Kofi Broke man’ is roast ripe plantain accompanied by roast groundnuts. Historically, it has been the case that Kofi Broke man serves as a healthy and satisfying meal at little cost. Fairly recently, for example, one could buy GH¢2 worth of roast plantain with its groundnut accompaniment and be fully satisfied.
It is the affordability and value for money factor that inspired the nickname Kofi Broke man. That is, no matter how broke one was, one could afford that delicacy. The name stuck even though prominent politicians and personalities with deep pockets patronise Kofi Broke man. And Kofi Broke man is not exclusive to Ghana. Our Nigerian cousins call a similar concept "Boli."
With the rise in prices, the increase in cost has defeated the Kofi Broke man rationale and this has impacted sales.
Currently, most of the women who roast this delicacy during lunch hours around the city centres, offices, churches, bus terminals, markets, schools, universities among others are out of business.
The few hardy ones who are still in the business sell a small slice of plantain for GH¢1, something that used to be between 20 and 50 Pesewas.
This had made most of the women who roast plantain to shift to the roasting of fresh corn, mainly because the average Kofi Broke man buyer has gravitated toward other staples.
Unfortunately, Kofi Broke man’s cousin, which is kelewele (snack dish of fried plantains seasoned with spices), another delicacy which is equally enjoyed by all and sundry, is equally expensive to buy.
Kelewele with groundnuts
Historically, kelewele has been something of a luxury for some because of the added cost of vegetable oils in its production process. Once the more affordable Kofi Broke man was impacted by rising foodstuff costs, it was predictable that its more affluent cousin, Kelewele, would be impacted too. In fact, many have stopped buying fried plantain when they buy their favourite red red (gari and beans).
This is because one small piece of fried plaintain is 50 pesewas, something that used to be 20 pesewas. Interestingly, three fingers of plantain is sold at one dollar in the US, while the same quantity is GH¢10 in Ghana. That is three times the price in Ghana.
A market survey revealed the seriousness of the problem from a supply chain perspective. With four fingers of ripe and unripe plantain being sold at GH¢20, it is no mystery that plantain chips, kelewele, Kofi Broke Man and fufu have all gained diplomatic status.
And it is not just plantain: other foodstuffs are becoming either too dear or scarce, impacting popular dish availability.
Kokonte
For example, though cassava is one of the common crops in Ghana and easiest to cultivate, it is currently expensive and hard to come by. Cassava is used to prepare starch, fufu, kokonte, banku, agbeli kaaklo and gari’. However, the high prices have affected such foods which are for the average Ghanaian.
A medium tuber of yam is sold between GH¢ 10 and 20, while three big tubers go for GH¢ 50. Cocoyam, used by others for fufu, is five pieces for GH¢10. It is for this reason that most people who were in the fried yams business are beginning to add banku to their business as a ball of banku is cheaper than tinny slices of fried yam.
For those who patronised the chop bars, you need to buy between GH¢ 5 and 10 worth of fufu minus meat if you were to meaningfully fill your tummy.
Fufu
Within the week, this reporter went to the Mallam Atta Market, Madina, Kaneshie, Mallam, Agbogbloshie, Makola and Tema station markets but the situation was the same. Foodstuffs were just expensive and all the traders were lamenting about the situation.
Garden eggs, tomatoes and okra have all joined the expensive train. For instance, five medium sizes of garden eggs are going for GH¢5, meaning one is for GH¢1 same price that could have bought about 10 pieces in the past.
Tomatoes have equally assumed the same position, making consumers wonder what food vendors are exactly cooking for people to buy.
Plantain chips
Some people have attributed the scarcity of some foodstuffs to Ghana’s over dependence on natural rainfall to grow food to feed its citizens in this global warming and climate change dispensation which is a threat to food security in the country.
The rainfall patterns have also not been favourable, affecting the cassava, yams, plantain crops. Hikes in transport fares despite the decline in oil prices on the global market is also another factor.
As The Mirror found, the ever-expanding urban sprawl in Ghana is also a problem, an issue that would alarm environmentalists. Some foodstuff sellers and vendors noted that most farmers do not engage in commercial cassava and plantain cultivation simply because arable land is now prime real estate for housing development.
Madam Serwaa, who has been selling plantain, cocoyam and kontomire at the Madina Market for the past 21 years, said most lands, which were used for farming, had being sold to estate developers ,therefore, contributing immensely to the shortage of most of the major foodstuffs.
She swore that the rate at which farm land had been consumed by real estate development was beyond anything she had seen in her lifetime.
This assertion can be true to some extent as most of the lands around the Trade Fair Site, La, Madina, Dodowa, Aburi, Kasoa and many others are all being developed into estates. In the past, these were areas where some farmers grow okro, onions, tomatoes, garden eggs, pepper and other vegetables which made foodstuffs less expensive.
Clearly, therefore, the mystery of what broke Kofi Broke man can only be solved by looking at foodstuff production in Ghana holistically.