AGRICULTURE
Farmers cry foul over cheap imports from Tanzania
Onion and tomato farmers are the hardest hit
In Summary
- Farmers in part of the country are harvesting
- Recent rains caused major damages on the produce
by GEORGE MURAGECORRESPOND
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Farming Fresh produce farmers in Kinangop, Nyandarua county
Image: George Murage
The flooding of markets by cheap fresh produce from Tanzania is threatening to lock out local farmers and traders.
Farmers from Kinangop, Nyandarua County say the influx of the produce has seen prices drop by over 50 percent in the last two months.
Prices in the agriculture rich area however remain high due to the high cost of production coupled by poor road infrastructure and brokers.
According to traders and farmers from the ‘Soko Mpaya’ vegetable market along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, the influx of produce from the country had adversely affected them.
A trader Isaac Kamara said that the price of 1kg of onion had dropped from a high of Sh130 to Sh70 due to oversupply from the Tanzania market.
He noted that farmers in the country were incurring high production costs which was giving the farmers from Tanzania unfair ground.
“Most of the onions and tomatoes sold in this market are coming from Tanzania where there is overproduction and the prices are low,” he said.
He added that prices from the local farmers continued to be high adding that it was time that the government intervened and looked at the prices of fertilizer and fuel.
“The biggest challenge facing local farmers are the high prices of farm inputs like fertilizer and chemicals with rising prices of fuel worsening the situation,” he said.
Another farmer Stella Wanjiru said that a crate of tomatoes from Tanzania was retailing at Sh2,500 per crate compared to Sh3,200 from local farmers.
She said that this had negative effects on them at a time when production was high with traders opting for foreign produce at the expense of locals.
“We are suffering from an unfair market as prices of produce from the neighboring countries are very low and in the process we have lost a lot,” she said.
A carrot trader Jane Wangui noted that the harsh economic times had also seen demand for the produce drop with consumers ignoring some produce.
“Demand for some produce like carrots and tomatoes is low as many families are struggling to make ends meet,” she said.
This was echoed by John Kinuthia who attributed the low demand for fresh produce to low purchasing powers among the consumers.
Kinuthia who sells cabbages termed the high taxes coupled with rising cost of fuel as some of the major challenges currently facing farmers and traders.
Onion and tomato farmers are the hardest hit