Zambia: Sky high tomato price

The price of tomatoes at Soweto Market has increased five-fold as demand outstrips supply, a survey has revealed. The price of tomatoes has skyrocketed from as low as E 3.20 per box to 28 euros per box

A survey conducted by the Daily Mail in Lusaka at both Soweto and City markets on Thursday revealed that a box of tomatoes is being sold between 28 and 32 euros per box.

Amos Mpofu, a farmer of Chongwe, attributed the increase in the price of tomatoes to high demand from the public and also due to loss incurred in the past due to flooding of the commodity on the market.

“The increase in prices of tomatoes is due to high demand by the public…you see, in the past months a lot of farmers decided to plant tomatoes, but because of the flooding of the commodity on the market we had to sell the commodity at a cheap price to avoid wasting the commodity.

“So a lot of farmers had a loss and most of them decided to diversify to other crops like cotton and vegetables,” he said.

daily-mail.co.zm