200Kg Crate Of Tomatoes Trading At 10,000 Shillings In Nairobi

By Lynnet Okumu / Published June 30, 2022 | 11:57 am

KEY POINTS

For an average of 310 shillings, consumers can have a kilogram of tomatoes at Marikiti Market, while spending 10 shillings for one medium-sized tomato fruit.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In Nairobi’s Uthiru market, traders are selling one medium-sized tomato fruit at 10 shillings up from 5 shillings three months ago.

At the Fig tree market, consumers are paying 20 shillings for three medium-sized tomato fruits and 50 shillings for four large-sized ones.

The price of 200 kilograms of tomatoes is retailing at an average of 10,000 shillings in Nairobi driven by the high demand occasioned by the continuous drought creating a shortage of the commodity across the country.

The average price for a ton is 332,270.57 shillings in Mombasa and Nairobi.

This is an increase of more than double from an average of 4000 shillings about five months ago and an increase of 2000 shillings three months ago.

In Nairobi’s Uthiru market, traders are selling one medium-sized tomato fruit at 10 shillings up from 5 shillings three months ago.

At the Fig tree market, consumers are paying 20 shillings for three medium-sized tomato fruits and 50 shillings for four large-sized ones.

For an average of 310 shillings, consumers can have a kilogram of tomatoes at Marikiti Market, while spending 10 shillings for one medium-sized tomato fruit.

The current shortage which had been projected to end in April 2022, is far from ending as the drought continues to bite.

As compared to the open-air markets, tomato prices vary across the different estates of Nairobi. Depending on the size and quality, at times the traders sell one tomato fruit for 20 shillings, 10 shillings, or even 5 shillings.

In other major towns such as Kisumu and Mombasa, the prices of tomatoes sell from between 8500 shillings to 10,000 shillings.

In Kenya, tomato plays a critical role in meeting domestic and nutritional food requirements, generation of income, foreign exchange earnings, and creation of employment.

But Kenya only produces an average of 283,000 tons of tomatoes annually against a demand of 300,000 tons. In 2017, the country imported 27,000 tons of fruit.

Most of the commodity in the region is now being imported from countries such as Ethiopia which has had adverse effects on the market of locally produced tomatoes.

Kenyan tomato farmers have reportedly witnessed a drop of up to 40 percent in the wholesale commodity prices over the past month due to the flooding of Ethiopian tomatoes in the local market.

The fruit is used in salads, cooked as a vegetable, or made as a paste in the value addition process.

Meanwhile, a 10Kg sack of onions is retailing at 1,200 shillings according to traders at Fig Tree market.

A single onion retails between 10 and 15 shillings apart from small ones, which are 5 shillings across different markets.