Food prices on the rise across region as the drought bites

Mary Mwangi arranges fruits and vegetables at her stand at Chaka open air market in Nyeri, Kenya on August 7, 2016. Food price have been rising. PHOTO | FILE 

By RAYMOND TAMALE

For Martin Kasirye, living in Kampala has never been an easy decision but there is no other option...
available to him. The commercial taxi operator who resides in a two room apartment located in makindye, a Kampala suburb, takes care of his family of four with the meager funds he makes daily.

On average, the 30-year old makes Ush25,000 ($7). He pays Ush250,000 ($72) for his two room apartment. Times have become more difficult for martin and he is thinking about moving his family back to the village in Mpigi district.

Spot checks across the country show that in the past six months, the price of food items has sky rocketed. They are expected to increase even higher as we approach the festive season.

Obadia Twesigomwe, a business man who sells bananas from Mbarara told The EastAfrican that “the prices of their goods have gone up by nearly 50 per cent of last year’s price.”

Findings at Nakawa, Nakasero and Kalerwe markets show that the prices of commodities like rice, bananas, sugar, eggs, tomatoes, and soap among have increased.

Currently, a bag of lower grade rice, which sold for Ush3,300 ($0.95) in January now sells for Ush3,500 ($1), while high quality grade rice now sells between Ush3,500 ($1) and Ush3,800 ($1.10).

A 50kg bag of sugar, which was selling between Ush150,000 ($43) and Ush169,000 ($49) now sells between Ush173,000 ($50) and Ush172,000 ($49). A tray of eggs that was previously selling for Ush8,500 ($2) now goes for Ush12,000 ($3).

Export bans

Matooke, a common staple especially in central and western Uganda has experienced very sharp rises in the past few months with an average size going for between Ush25,000 ($7) and Ush30,000 ($9) up from an average Ush15,000 ($4) recently. Bigger bunches can sell for as much as Ush50,000 ($14).

The price hike also applies for items like goat meat with a kilogram currently going for Ush14,000 ($4). A container of tomatoes, which was selling for Ush2,000 ($0.50) now sells for Ush4,000 ($1).
Joweria Nalweyiso a trader who owns a wholesale shop in Kalerwe, attributes the high prices to demand from regional countries, where most of his items are exported to.

Ibrahim Michael Okumu, an Economics lecturer at Makerere university says the high demand from both Uganda and other countries in the region like Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan is not being matched with the supply from farmers.

“The government should encourage use of technology like irrigations systems to increase supply,” said Dr Okumu.

Food prices are on an upward trend across East Africa with a biting drought expected to reduce output this year and restrictions on trade in staples hindering supply in selected markets.

Rwanda is among the countries that have been hard hit by export bans by Tanzania and Burundi leading to a surging in the price of maize, beans and rice.

Maize prices in Rwanda have increased from $0.24 per kg in April this year to $0.37 per kg on the Rwanda commodity exchange. The price of rice has increased from $0.98 per kg to $1.23 and the price of a kg of bananas increased from $0.30 to $0.37.

Price surges

Data from the Rwanda National Institute of Statistics shows that in September, the year-on-year inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages stood at 13.4 per cent.

The World Food Organisation said that in some districts in eastern Rwanda, food stocks have been depleted and poor households that usually rely on subsistence farming have started relying more on food from the market. .

“Although the ongoing planting activities are improving labour opportunities and providing some income, the lean season is expected to last until early December, when first the 2017A season crops will be available for local consumption,” said the World Food Organisation.

Rwanda’s situation is further aggravated by a growing number of refugees from neighbouring Burundi.

Despite the ban on exports, Burundi has not been spared the food price surge sweeping across the region with rice prices now at Bif2,300 ($1.35) compared with Bif1,800 ($1) per kilogramme a year ago. Beans, the country’s staple is at Bif1,500 ($0.88) per kilogramme compared to Bif1,100 ($0.65) over the period. However the price of sugar in the country remained relatively stable at Bif2,000 ($1.18) per kg. “Generally we don’t want to export our food because our production this year will not be able to satisfy the demand of the population,” said Burundi’s assistant Minister of Trade Aimable Nkunzimana.

Mr Nkunzimana said he was optimistic that the food prices will soon reduce as the harvest season was nearing. Burundi imports most of its rice from Tanzania.

Data from the Tanzania Department of Trade Promotion and Marketing shows an increase in prices of beans, maize and rice since July.