Fresh commodities demanded low.
With the start of the schools’ academic year soon, demand of fresh commodities like matooke and Irish potatoes have decreased in markets like Kalerwe and Nakawa. This is because of the attitude consumers have that these are luxurious foods. This has had a fall in the retail price of these commodities. Beans and maize prices however have stabilized because of this anticipation. Consumers prefer sweet potatoes because it’s cheaper than Matooke and Irish. A heap of Sweet potatoes at Ush.500, weighs more than all other fresh item heaps at the same cost. It’s been noted that there is low supply of fresh cassava in all Kampala market. Cassava has several products that can be obtained from it at different levels; not to mention starch and maltose. The livestock feeds industry is one reason that has been singled out as cause to this shortage but also reduced production of the crop is the other. In Kiryandongo, a cassava strong production area, a transit trader was willing to get rid of a 250kg sack at Ush.50, 000 this week. This explains that there is big demand for cassava right from the rural areas.
