Markets have started receiving produce from the freshly harvested crops from the second season of the bio-modal rainfall patterns in Uganda. It should be noted that most of the crops have not matured since the beginning of the rains in early September.
Beans are one of the fastest growing crops and by the beginning of the week, markets in the eastern and western parts of country started receiving stock which reduced wholesale prices which had stuck around UGX.4500/kg to around UGX.2500/kg by end of the week. However, fresh beans were still scarce on the market but expected to increase in volumes which will further reduce the market.
Since there was no new maize received in the markets, maize imported from Tanzania continue to stabilize markets in Kampala where the wholesale price rotated around UGX.1300/kg. In the country side, maize grain wholesale prices remained relatively higher and prices are only expected to be lower than those of Kampala when those respective regions harvest fresh maize. Also, significant volumes of maize continue to be traded at Busia and Malaba boarder, much of which is imported from Tanzania via Mutukula Uganda-Tanzania boarder.
Prices of other fresh foods remained equally high in most major markets. Bananas/matooke prices remain significantly high with the large bunches going for as high as UGX.30,000 wholesale price in Kampala markets. Information received on the market is that prolonged sunshine affected banana gardens and prices are expected to normalize towards mid-December.
In Kampala, irish potatoes prices continue to linger around Ugx.200,000 per sack. More supply of irish potatoes is expected to reach the market at the beginning of December from most areas in Western Uganda while sweet potato consumers will have to wait a little longer for fresh and quality supply at lower prices.
Fruits and vegetables (including tomatoes and mangoes) continue to be scarce with mangoes being imported from Kenya at a higher price of UGX.2500/kg and other fruits are completely out of market. The season of mangoes in the bio-modal rainfall pattern areas is expected to set in in December affecting current consumers with relatively higher prices and poor quality supply.
Download this week’s Price Outlook (14th – 20th November, 2022) for the detailed wholesale prices of selected commodities across the various regional markets in Uganda.