Produce prices collapse
Jul 08, 2010
FARMERS and produce dealers in Lango sub-region are stuck with thousands of tonnes of maize and other food commodities after the prices drastically dropped, a dealer said last week.
By Patrick Okino
FARMERS and produce dealers in Lango sub-region are stuck with thousands of tonnes of maize and other food commodities after the prices drastically dropped, a dealer said last week.
Some dealers sold their produce at a loss margin of sh300, down from sh700 per kilogramme after stocking it for months.
The commodities include maize, millet, sorghum, posho and beans.
Patrick Okello, a produce dealer at Lira produce line, said lack of markets and poor prices were frustrating farmers’ efforts to produce.
He said a kilogramme of maize dropped from sh700 last year to sh200, sorghum from sh800 to sh150, posho sh1,200 down to 700, beans from sh1,500 to sh1200 and millet from sh1,050 to sh700.
“Business has become useless this year,†said Okello, who sold 15.5 tonnes of maize he bought at sh600 a kilogramme last year at sh300 a week ago.
The UN World Food Programme, which used to take a lot of the commodities to feed the internally displaced persons had suspended their programme after a number of people resettled into the villages.
FARMERS and produce dealers in Lango sub-region are stuck with thousands of tonnes of maize and other food commodities after the prices drastically dropped, a dealer said last week.
Some dealers sold their produce at a loss margin of sh300, down from sh700 per kilogramme after stocking it for months.
The commodities include maize, millet, sorghum, posho and beans.
Patrick Okello, a produce dealer at Lira produce line, said lack of markets and poor prices were frustrating farmers’ efforts to produce.
He said a kilogramme of maize dropped from sh700 last year to sh200, sorghum from sh800 to sh150, posho sh1,200 down to 700, beans from sh1,500 to sh1200 and millet from sh1,050 to sh700.
“Business has become useless this year,†said Okello, who sold 15.5 tonnes of maize he bought at sh600 a kilogramme last year at sh300 a week ago.
The UN World Food Programme, which used to take a lot of the commodities to feed the internally displaced persons had suspended their programme after a number of people resettled into the villages.