Price movement analysis of selected agricultural products in gabon

In Gabon, as in all developing countries, the share of income allocated to food is very important. Access to food is influenced by many factors. One of those major factors is price fluctuations. Price fluctuations affect both producers and consumers. This study aims at analyzing annual and monthly price fluctuations of selected twelve agricultural products. It also formulates some suggestions to help better deal with the problems related to food prices in Gabon. To conduct this study, secondary data were obtained from the Gabonese Institute for Development Support (IGAD). Data obtained were consumer prices of selected twelve agricultural commodities in Libreville market and covers the years of 2005-2015. Data were analyzed employing SPSS and Excel software and several trend models were developed, together with some basic statistical calculations. The results showed that in general, the product prices in Libreville market were very unstable and constantly increasing during the study period, with the exception of amaranth and lettuce. The prices of staple foods (manioc and plantain) were found to be affected more adversely than the others. Monthly fluctuations were also analyzed and prices were found higher between May and October. Cyclical movements were also analyzed. Reasons behind price movements were explained as the data in hand allowed. All the findings lead to several suggestions for establishment of a good data collection and financing system in order to monitor prices more closely, and to increase supply locally.