Abstract:
ABSTRACT
This study applies a simple financial model to compare the profitability of selected grain storage protection
technologies (PICS and Poly sacks) in Ghana. To address the objectives, market survey data of soybean traders
who represent a section of the soybean supply chain was used. Per the model, the price seasonality for profitable
soybean storage was estimated by accounting for costs related to storage (protectants, maintenance, supervision,
and labor), the opportunity cost of capital, and storage technologies (PICS and Poly sacks). Results indicated that
the profitability associated with poly sacks was higher than the PICS bags over the entire support of seasonal
harvest prices and consistent across the different trader types. Secondly, less than 20% of the traders were willing
to invest in storage protection technologies since the value of their storage losses is higher than the value of the
investment cost.
