The IFPRI World Hunger Index published last Friday has some nice things to say about Ghana. See lead story. We are not doing that badly at all in many areas of our national development. Like the president said last week, we must be grateful for the small mercies we are enjoying. We make this point because some of our compatriots go on and on as if our country is a basket case.

Actually, it is not! Putting the IFPRI index aside, we can even use the proliferation of eating and drinking "spots" that have been springing up as our own index of how good our country is taking care of herself. Who eats at these spots? Answer: Ghanaians. Who drinks at these spots? Answer: Ghanaians.

We may not be a paradise, but we certainly have made progress, which we must keep adding to. Prices of food items need to come down some more, but as inflation and the value of the cedi keep improving, so would prices eventually become more realistic and much more affordable - the fact still remains however that we are NOT a starving nation! Is that not worth celebrating?