Tomato Prices Surge Across Kenyan Markets As Supply Tightens

Kenyans are digging deeper into their pockets for tomatoes this month, and the reason isn’t hard to find, bad weather has hammered production in the country’s key growing zones, and supply just can’t keep pace with demand right now.

Walk through any Nairobi market this week, and you’ll notice it immediately. A single tomato that would have cost you about KSh10 a few months back is now going for as much as KSh15.

Vendors point the finger at falling supply from Kiambu, Murang’a and Kirinyaga, the counties that normally keep the capital stocked.

Numbers from Agrisoko back this up. Their latest tracking, updated in early September, put the average national price at roughly KSh43 a kilo, with Kangemi Market coming in a touch higher at around KSh45.

Worth noting, though, Agrisoko itself cautions that this snapshot only pulls from a handful of active market reports, so it’s more of a rough gauge than a definitive national figure.

If there’s one thing this tomato shortage makes obvious, it’s that Kenya doesn’t really have “a” tomato price; it has dozens, depending on where you’re standing.

In Malaba, tomatoes are fetching KSh200 a kilo. Kibuye Market in Kisumu was charging around KSh150 a kilo, while just down the road in Katito and Holo, the same produce went for closer to KSh100.

Down at the coast, Kwale told its own story, Diani hovering between KSh80 and KSh100, Kinango around KSh80. Meru’s markets, including Kangeta and Maua, stayed relatively gentle on the wallet at KSh50 to KSh60.

Isebania in Migori and Embu Town, both sitting at a comparatively modest KSh40 a kilo. What explains the gap? Mostly the basics: how far the tomatoes have to travel, how much is grown locally, and the usual push and pull of supply and demand.

Nowhere is the pinch sharper than at the coast. Kongowea Market in Mombasa has seen grade-one tomatoes jump to between KSh120 and KSh130 a kilo, more than double the usual KSh50 to KSh60 range.

Some Mombasa traders have started looking across the border, importing from Tanzania to plug the gap. Those boxes, weighing anywhere from 64 to 80 kilos, are reportedly changing hands for KSh7,600 to KSh8,500.

Individual tomatoes in parts of the city are going for up to KSh15 apiece, the same eye-watering price Nairobi shoppers are facing.

Farmers say this is a weather story more than anything else. Heavy rains have battered crops across several growing regions, and what’s making it to market often shows the damage, hail scarring, disease, and general quality issues that come with a rough growing season.

Kenya’s major tomato belt stretches across Kiambu, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Taita Taveta, Narok, Lamu, Siaya, Kajiado, Machakos, Trans Nzoia, Kitui, Meru, Makueni, Bungoma, Laikipia, Nakuru, Homa Bay, and Bomet, and right now, a good chunk of that belt is struggling.

Read Also: Kenya’s Milk Crisis Deepens As Supplies Tighten, And Prices Rise