About two months ago, few homes could afford to prepare meals with tomatoes. Farmers that had panted tomatoes during the peak of dry season made higher profits from their harvest.
Between June and July a basin of tomatoes cost about Rwf6,000- Rwf12,000 meaning one tomato fruit was priced at Rwf100. By that time only the well to do families would afford tomatoes.
This high demand for tomatoes during the just concluded dry season triggered speculation among farmers who later quickly sunk money into their fields. This has led to bumper harvest and most food markets are flooded with tomatoes to an extent a basin (20kgs) is now priced Rwf2,000.
Mukamugabe Ziripa a mother of two told Taarifa from her Ndatemwa market stall on Tuesday in Gatsibo district that she almost returns home with all tomatoes every evening without selling, “Tomatoes are so cheap now. I almost have to auction the tomatoes at give away prices.”
She said the supply is extremely high, “now we don’t have carrots, beet roots and cabbages,” she said, adding that farmers are working based on speculation and this pushes traders and them into loses.
According to Jean claude Niyomugabo, Founder Speke Farms and a Youth Agri-Advocate, cultivating fruits and vegetables can contribute to a better quality of life for family farmers and their communities.
“It generates income, creates livelihoods, improves food security and nutrition, and enhances resilience through sustainably managed local resources,” Niyomugabo says.
