‘Tame sky-high food prices’

CITIZENS and traders have sought government interventions on skyrocketing food prices, largely contributed by poor harvests.

The ‘Daily News’ spot survey on Wednesday showed that across the country, citizens are grappling with a sharp increase in the cost of living fuelled by soaring food prices.

Some traders and citizens have aired their voices and requested the government to release food from the national stock and halt export to contain the situation until next harvest season—as weathermen forecast for poor rain this fall.

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In the commercial city of Dar es Salaam, wholesale and retail prices for rice, maize flour and beans have shot up in recent days by between 20 and 35 per cent in one month, while almost doubled in the last one year.

Tandale Market Secretary, Michael Kidakule, told ‘Daily News’ that the amount of maize received at the market went down sharply from between 200 and 300 sacks, each weighing 100kg, a day, to 100 and 200 per week.

“The amount we receive in a day since the beginning of the year keeps dropping, while supplies are dwindling,” Mr Kidakule said, asking for government intervention to rescue the situation.

The secretary said there should be concerted efforts to help farmers reduce rain dependency agriculture and embark on irrigation due to the challenges of climate change.

Already, however, the Ministry of Agriculture has increased the irrigation budget by three times from 17.7bn/- to 51.48bn/- in the 2022/23 fiscal year.

The wholesale prices for rice have gone up by 32 per cent to between 2,450/- and 2,650/- per kilogramme on Wednesday from 1,500/- and 2,000/- of the last similar period last year. The retail prices jumped to around 2,700/- and 3,000/-.

While yellow beans wholesale prices rose to 3,200/- per kg and red beans 2,500/- per kg compared to 2,000/- and 1,800/- during a similar period last year respectively.

Retail prices at Kisutu Market were around 4,000/- per kg for yellow beans and 3,500/- for red beans, according to a trader, Yona Leonard.

Another trader at Buguruni Market Mr Athuman Binda said currently, most of the food stuff, especially rice, comes from Mbeya and Morogoro regions.

“The opening of borders has made many businessmen from neighbouring countries go directly to farmers and buy crops—especially rice, a situation that contributes to shortage of food crops in the country,” Mr Binda said.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the annual headline inflation rate for July increased to 4.5 per cent from 4.4 per cent recorded in June.

The July rate is five-year high since November 2017 and blamed on Covid-19 pandemic and the recent Russia-Ukraine war that have disrupted the global supply chains.

However, the inflation was still on the country’s target which ranges between three and five per cent, though it is threatened by high food, energy and fertilizer prices in the world market.

Elsewhere, Sumbawanga Municipal residents in Rukwa Region say that they are compelled to dig deeper in their pockets, following a sharp soaring of food prices including sunflower cooking oil.

A random survey by the ‘Daily News’ revealed that a sack of maize weighing 100 kg was being sold at 96,000/- up from previous 25,000/-, a kilo of rice goes for 3,000/- up from 2,200/-, while a kg of bean is up 4000/- from 2500/-.

In Arusha Region, a section of residents said they are feeling the pinch of the recent inflation, which has seen prices of food commodities slightly ballooning in the market.

A spot check by this paper established that the cost of items such as beans, sugar, rice and cooking oil had skyrocketed compared to last month.

For instance, in some areas, a kilogramme of rice which used to retail between 2100/- and 2200/- now fetches 2500/-.

The same applies for sugar, which has shot up to 2,800/- from the initial 2,700/-.

In Mwanza, ordinary citizens equally voiced their pains resulting from continuous soars in food commodity prices.

A trader at Mirongo Market Mr Frank Paschal (24) told the ‘Daily News’ on Wednesday that the price rise in key commodities such as rice, maize flour and beans contributes in to sharp fall in profit compared to the previous days, where by the inflation was normal that ensured availability of necessary commodities for resale in profit.

“Before the hike in price, 100 kg could fetch 20,000/- profit, now the return has dropped significantly to only 9000/-,” he said.

As of Wednesday, a kilo of rice in Mwanza was sold at 2,500/- compared to last month’s price of 1,800/-, while one litre for cooking oil is sold at 7,500/-, up from 5,000/- in January 2022.

On her part, food vendor, Ms Siajari Haruna (35) said rise in price of essential goods for business has been the problems for smooth running of her business as the rise in price of rice and cooking oil make her fail to prepare enough food thus earning low.

In Mtwara, several businesspersons and customers speaking to this newspaper said the price of fuel triggers rise of food prices.

“Many goods are sold at high prices because of high prices of fuel, for instance here in Mtwara, we transport many goods from other regions and prices for transporting these goods are high,” said Hassan Hassan, a business man in Mtwara.

One Janet Happy, a customer in Mtwara, asked the government to intervene by limiting food exports.

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