Take a walk through any of Ghana’s major markets on a regular day. You’ll see ten women with tomatoes in basins. Five open sacks of gari. Three trays of Fante kenkey wrapped in plantain leaves. From a distance, nothing sets one apart from the other. The only contest is who can call customers louder, and who is willing to cut their price first. That is where the trouble starts. Right now, most of our food moves through the market without a name. And when there’s no name on it, there is no one to hold accountable. With the reports we keep hearing – dye in palm oil, chemicals sprayed on pepper, expired goods repackaged – that should concern every one of us. It is time we started putting names on the food we eat and sell.
Why Bother Branding Gari and Pepper?
We already get it with other things. GRA put tax stamps on alcohol. You see that sticker and you know “this one is real.” Food needs the same. For the person selling: Nobody pays extra for “gari”. But people will pay for ‘’Mamaga’s Volta Gold Gari”. Because they know what they are getting. Branded food gets into shops, schools, and even outside Ghana. And customers come back for you, not just because you were the cheapest that day. For all of us eating it: If a pack of ginger chips has a name and a number on it, someone can be traced. If it’s in an open bowl, good luck. In a time where people are cutting corners with food, a name is safety. For Ghana: Branded local food means more jobs, less waste, and money coming in. Kenyan tea and Ethiopian coffee didn’t blow up by accident. They had a name. Our kenkey, our gari, our carrots can have one too.
This Won’t Be Easy
Branding Coke is simple. Branding fresh pepper is not. Fresh things rot. Carrots and tomatoes can’t sit and wait for nice packaging. Most sellers are working with small money. Paying for FDA, labels, bags… it feels like too much. And the rules right now are written for big factories, not for the woman frying gari in her compound. Plus, one week your kokonte is soft. Next week it’s hard. How do you build trust like that? That is why we are stuck. Cheap. Same. And easy for people to fake.
What Should Sellers Actually Do?
You don’t need a big factory to start. Start small.
- Get your product right first
If you make corn dough, make it the same way every time. Same taste. Same texture. People won’t follow a brand that keeps changing.
- Put your name on it
You don’t need glass jars. Get clean bags and a sticker. Write your name, your town, your number, and the date. “Best before”. That alone tells people “I’m not hiding anything.”
- Tell people where it’s from
“Bawku Carrots.” “Central Region Gari.” “Pure Ginger, No Colour.” People care about that now. Take pictures of your farm. Post it. Let them see the hands behind the food.
- Go for one registration
FDA has a small-scale option. It’s not as expensive. Get it. Put the number on your pack. It’s proof.
- Use the fear to your advantage
Everyone is scared of fake food right now. So say it: “100% Pure. No Chemicals.” Be the one people can trust.
What GSA and FDA Need to Do
GRA has tax stamps. Now we need food stamps. Trust stamps.
- Bring out a “Ghana Food Safe Mark”
A simple sticker with a QR code. FDA and GSA run it together. You scan and you see who made it, where, and when. Green means tested. Yellow means registered. And please, make it cheap and easy for all groups of people. Do it at the district level. Don’t make a woman from Bawku come to Accra.
- Build community processing centers
Places where sellers can go to dry, seal, and test their gari, dough, and ginger chips. Leave with a proper pack. Rwanda did this for coffee and it worked.
- Protect our food names
“Ga Kenkey” should mean something. “Bawku Onions”. “Volta Gari”. Make it a law so people can’t just copy and spoil the name.
- Go hard on the fakes, buy from the real ones
Fine people adding dye to oil. Jail people repackaging expired goods. At the same time, let government schools and hospitals buy from certified local brands. Give them business.
- Teach us to ask questions
Run ads. “Does it have a name? Does it have a number?” Train people that food with no label is food with no owner.
Other Countries Have Done This Already
Kenya put QR codes on avocados. Now “Kenya Avocados” sell for more abroad. India helped small spice makers get packaging and barcodes. Now they sell online. Rwanda turned local coffee into “Rwanda Bourbon” and farmers started earning real money. Same story everywhere. Get standard. Get certified. Tell your story. Enforce quality.
So What Now?
We have two roads. We can keep selling food with no name. Keep fighting on price. Keep hoping the next bag isn’t bad. Or we can start naming our food. If you sell: pick one thing. Make it good. Package it. Put your name on it. If you’re GSA or FDA: give us that Food Safe Mark. Build the hubs. Protect our names. If you’re buying: stop picking food with no owner. Ask. Pay a little more for safety. Because the truth is simple. Food with a name wins. Food with a face gets loyal customers. And food with trust is the one that will take us far.
The writer, Dr. Ebenezer Arthur Duncan is a lecturer at University of Professional Studies, Marketing Department.
