Tomato prices
by Mwangi Mumero
Urban households have been forced to go without
tomatoes in their dishes even as farmers across the country make a killing from
the good farm gate prices.
In some Nairobi estates, a tomato fruit is selling
at Ksh 10 a piece –making the vegetable inaccessible to many homes. A kilo has been retailing at Ksh 100.
“We have been forced to abandon tomatoes in our
sauces as price shoots. Alternatives such as capsicum have also proved rare and
highly priced in the local markets”, observed Joyce Otieno, a resident of New
Valley estate, outside Kitengela.
Tomatoes are important components of local dishes.
They can be fried with green vegetables and eaten with ugali. The fruits can also be made into desserts and eaten with
roasted meat. Ripe tomatoes can be eaten raw and are a good source of vitamins,
minerals and fibre.
Scarcity of tomatoes has made the prices of roasted
meat rise as cost of ‘Kachumbari’
shoot.
But even as consumers in urban area decry increased
prices, tomato farmers are smiling all the way to the bank as demand and farm
gate prices soar.
“It has been a good season for tomato farmers. We
have been able to make about Ksh 40,000 from the sale of tomatoes grown on
half-acre plot”, said Paul Muchuka, a farmer in Kiamburi village in Kinamba location,
Laikipia County.
He added that were it not for some few teething
challenges such as diseases like blight, tomato production and profits would
have been higher.
Farmers who had planted their crop in December last
year and used irrigation over the dry January- March season have made a killing
from their crop.
Overall, the price per crate has ranged between Ksh
3,500 and Ksh 5,000 giving the farmers a chance to recoup their investments and
make good profits.
The Ministry
of Agriculture monthly report on commodity prices indicated that in April,
prices of tomatoes across Kenyan cities ranged between a high of Ksh 6,000 per
crate in Nairobi to Ksh 5,700 in Mombasa.
According to Mr. Muchuka, farmers in Laikipia have
harvested a good crop that is being sought by buyers from across the region.
“Buyers have been flocking this area from Nairobi,
Mombasa, Nakuru and Nyeri seeking tomatoes. We are quite happy with the
production and sale obtained”, said Mr. Paul Kairu, a farmer from Wangachi
village also in Laikipia.
Lorries have been trooping to local townships such
as Kinamba, Sipili and Karandi seeking out this elusive fruit.
Tomato retailers have also been complaining of high
tomato prices.
“While we would want to buy and resell tomatoes, the
pricing is prohibitive. Few household will afford the prices and we are forced
to skip the tomatoes”, said Phyllis Njoki, a small shop operator who sources
her tomatoes from Mukuyu Market, just outside Murang’a Town.
A crate of tomatoes is retailing at Ksh 6,000 at the
market making it prohibitively high for retailers.
According to her, retailers would make little in
profits and many are forced to buy little stock or skip the fruits all together.
With no storage facilities, many retailers have been
forced to stock just enough tomatoes for sale within a few days.
In Kirinyaga County’s Kagio market- considered the
Mecca of vegetable sellers, prices of tomatoes have been high as farmers sell to
buyers from across the country.
“Demand for tomatoes has been high- as a result of
less production during the dry period. Farmers using drip irrigation have been
able to make a handsome profits as their costs have been low”, remarked John
Muthike, a farmer from Ngurubani in Mwea.
Farmers in the region hope that the county and
national governments can come up with a tomato sauce processing factory to ease
on huge transport costs incurred getting their tomatoes to townships for sale.
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