By Stephen Nuwagira
The prices of a number of produce items have increased in Ibanda district over the past month, with yellow, green and short bean varieties going for sh3,500 per kilogramme at produce stores in Ibanda town.
This compares to sh3,000 at the beginning of the harvest season in November. Nambale beans cost sh3,000, up from sh2,500, and mixed beans are unchanged at sh2,500.
However, mixed beans cost sh1,700 per kilo in Rushango town (Ibanda North County) while yellow and short varieties are at sh2,200 at produce stores in the area, and Nambale costs sh2,000 a kilo, according to Tanazio Monday, a produce trader.
The farmgate price for the mix is currently sh1,600, while that of green, yellow and short ranges between sh2,600 and 2,800 per kilo, and Nambale is at sh2,200 in Ibanda town.
Maize costs sh1,500 per kilo, increasing from sh1,200 previously, unsorted millet goes for sh3,000, while the price of sorted millet rose from sh3,500 to sh3,700 per kilo over the reporting period.
Ezra Kiiza, a produce dealer at Saza Market on Ibanda-Kazo road, attributes the high cost of maize to low supply, explaining that the year’s main crop has not yet hit the market.
He is optimistic that the prices will ease in the coming weeks as more produce is brought onto the market.
Meanwhile, groundnuts range from sh6,000 to 7,000 per kilo, depending on the variety.
Local groundnut varieties are at sh7,000 per kilo, while those from Tanzania and West Nile cost between sh6,000 and 6,500.
The price of dry cassava has inched up sh200 to cost sh1,000 per kilo in Ibanda town on wet conditions in the area over the past few weeks.
