By Stephen Nuwagira
After months of unpredictable and low prices, growers of beans can now afford to walk with a bounce following price gains made over the past weeks.
The cost of mixed beans have gained shilllings 350 to trade at shillings 1,500 per kilogramme presently, indicating an increase from sh1,150 on March 18. Green, yellow, and Nambale short varieties are trading at shillings 3,500 in Ibanda town, or shillings 1,200 higher than shillings 2,300 just over a month ago.
Green peas (from South Africa) are trading at a high of shillings 6,000, with dealers saying that local peas growing areas like Buhweju are off-season.
Cereals register drops
Most cereals have registered price drops over the reporting period, with a kilo of maize at sh600 in Ibanda town, indicating a drop from about shillings 700 just over a month ago.
Produce dealers buying the maize at sh500 from farmers. The cost of maize was unchanged, going for sh5,00 per kilo in Rushango town council, Ibanda South County.
Maize for popcorn ranges from shillings 1,500 to shillings 1,600 a kilo at produce stores, but costs shillings 1,400 from farmers.
Millet also inched lower, with sorted millet at shillings 2,700 down from shillings 3,000 recorded a month ago, while unsorted millet is at shillings 2,200. The farm-gate price for the cereal is shillings 2,000 per kilo. Traders buy a kilogramme of sorghum at shillings 1,400 and retail it at shillings 1,500.
A kilo of soya goes for shillings 2,800, that of groundnuts is at shillings 5,500, while groundnuts from Tanzania cost between shillings 3,800 and shillings 4,000 per kilo, that of dry cassava ranges from shillings 700 to shillings 800 compared to shillings 1,000 last month.
Unpredictable
The market for beans is still unpredictable despite the gains made, traders say, explaining that bulk buyers were not in the market.
Godfrey Begumisa, the chairperson of the Ibanda Produce Dealers Association, said the market has been flooded by ‘cheaper’ and quality produce from neighbouring countries, like Tanzania.
He projects the prices of beans to drop as the new harvest season sets in next month.
