Tomato farmers in Uganda's Kasese District are suffering after the demand for tomatoes this season drastically fell. This pushed the price from Shs50,000 to Shs10,000 a basket at farm gate.
Samuel Nyarwa, a tomato farmer in Karusandara Sub-county, Kasese District, told the Daily Monitor that farmers have decided to abandon their gardens due to limited demand.
"We are counting on losses this season as we used to sell our tomatoes to traders from DR Congo and South Sudan," he said. "But because of the insurgency, our customers are no longer coming to buy tomatoes, which is the reason you see these tomatoes still in the gardens."
As a result, the farmers are now selling a basket of tomatoes at Shs10,000-Shs15,000. This is a big drop from Shs 50,000-Shs70,000 previously.
(1 Ugandan Shilling=0.00029 USD)
Source: allafrica.com