When the cold chain breaks: Why Ghana is losing frozen food and what can be done

By Dr. David Antwi

Ghana is facing a growing but often overlooked problem in its food system—losses in frozen fish and chicken supply chains. While these foods are essential for many households, especially as affordable sources of protein, a large portion is being compromised before it reaches consumers.

Globally, nearly one-third of all food produced is lost each year. In developing countries like Ghana, frozen foods are particularly at risk because they depend heavily on improper temperature control. When this “cold chain” is broken, food begins to spoil, even if it still looks acceptable.

The Real Problem: Not Just Waste, But Unsafe Food

In Ghana, the issue goes beyond food being thrown away. A major concern is that food loses quality due to repeated thawing and refreezing but is still sold in the market often at discounted prices. This exposes consumers to health risks, including foodborne illnesses. Reports suggest that food poisoning cases in Ghana exceed 600,000 annually, highlighting the scale of the challenge.

Several factors contribute to this problem: unreliable electricity, limited cold storage facilities, weak enforcement of regulations, and poor handling practices across the supply chain. But one key issue that stands out is about how people manage the system.

Why This Matters for Ghana

Frozen fish and chicken are everyday foods for many families. When they are not properly handled:

• Consumers are exposed to unsafe food, increasing health risks

• Affordable protein becomes less available, especially for low-income households

• Businesses lose money due to spoilage, and prices rise for consumers

• Energy, fuel, and other resources are wasted, harming the environment

This makes food loss in the cold chain not just a technical issue, but a national concern affecting health, livelihoods, and economic stability.

What the Study Found

A recent study by CARISCA at KNUST looked closely at Ghana’s frozen food supply chain. The research covered key regions including Greater Accra, Western, Ashanti, and Northern, and involved interviews and surveys with importers, transporters, wholesalers, and retailers. The study combined interviews and surveys to understand where and why food loss occurs in Ghana’s frozen food supply chain. We spoke with 22 key actors across the cold chain to identify critical points where losses happen, and we also collected survey data from 298 participants, including importers, transporters, wholesalers, and retailers.  This approach allowed the study to capture both practical experiences and broader trends within the sector.

The findings reveal a deeper and more complex problem as outlined below:

1. Low visible losses, but not the full picture
   Reported food losses are generally below 10%, suggesting that large quantities of quality compromised food are not being visibly discarded. However, this creates a false sense of efficiency.

2. High levels of hidden losses
   A significant share of the loss is not visible. Food often loses quality due to poor temperature control such as partial thawing and refreezing but is still sold, sometimes at reduced prices. This exposes consumers to potential health risks.

3. Inconsistent performance in transport
   Transporters show the greatest variation in performance, indicating that refrigerated transport is not always reliable or properly managed across the supply chain.

4. Higher risks at early stages of the chain
   Losses and quality problems are more common during importation, transportation, and wholesale. These stages involve long distances, unreliable power, and weaker temperature control practices.

Therefore,  the biggest concern is not how much food is thrown away, but how much food reaches consumers in a reduced or unsafe condition without their knowledge.

The Missing Link: People, Not Just Infrastructure

A key takeaway from the study is that infrastructure alone is not enough. While cold storage facilities and refrigerated trucks are important, they do not work well without skilled people to manage them.

Human factors such as knowledge, discipline, decision-making, and proper handling tend to play a major role in whether the cold chain works effectively. In fact, the study shows that well-trained workers can significantly improve transport performance and reduce losses, even where infrastructure is limited.

What Needs to Be Done

Addressing this issue requires action from both industry and government.

For Cold Chain Businesses:

• Invest in regular staff training on food handling and temperature control

• Improve coordination between storage and transport operations

• Use simple systems to monitor and record temperatures in real time

• Set and enforce clear handling procedures

• Promote a strong culture of food safety and accountability

For Government and Regulators:

• Introduce certification and training programs for cold chain workers

• Provide incentives for companies that invest in staff development

• Strengthen inspections and enforcement, especially at market level

• Support investment in reliable cold storage and energy systems

• Improve data collection to better track food losses and system performance

A National Opportunity

Reducing food loss in Ghana’s frozen food supply chain is not only about preventing waste. It is about protecting public health, lowering food prices and improving food security. Most importantly, the solution is not only about building more infrastructure. It is about investing in people because even the best systems will fail without the skills and discipline to manage them. Strengthening both human capacity and cold chain systems offers one of the most practical and cost-effective ways for Ghana to improve its food system and protect its citizens.

The writer is a lecturer at the Kumasi Technical University

The post When the cold chain breaks: Why Ghana is losing frozen food and what can be done appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.

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