Tomatoes at a Ugandan market. The price of the commodity is dropping after doubling in the past three months. Photo by New Vision.
After more than three months of paying triple price for tomatoes, the cost of the commodity has dropped by almost half- a month since the rains started falling.
A 64kg crate of the tomatoes is being sold at Sh2,200 in Mombasa and Nakuru while Malindi is just Sh40 more.
Nairobi is buying the same quantity of tomatoes at Sh2,300 while Kisumu and Eldoret are paying Sh2,500 and Sh2,400 respectively, according to price analysts, Soko+
The price of a 64kg crate of tomatoes rose from Sh2,500 in the last quarter of 2016 to Sh7,000 in most town in Kenya by the end of April.
The cost of the commodity, which is one of the commonest ingredients in row and cooked foods, was one of the first commodities to slip into the shortage crisis, sparking a sharp rise in demand.
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An average size of one tomato cost Sh10; four of the same size cost Sh10 when the supply is normal.
Three grade one tomatoes were selling at Sh50 in Nairobi.
And one kilo was fetching more than Sh100 in major towns, with Mombasa and Eldoret being some of the most expensive markets for the commodity.
By mid April, 2017, one kilo of tomatoes was selling at Sh110 in Eldoret while the same was costingSh102 and Sh90 in Mombasa and Nairobi respectively.
The prices were occasioned by the drought that expended from November 2016 to the end of March this year. Beside the tomatoes, other vegetables such as cabbages, sukuma wiki, spinaches, black night shade among others doubled in prices too.
On average, every household uses a tomato at least once per day as a fresh vegetable or an ingredient in cooked food. This made the impact of the price to b felt by every consumer.