Food prices are climbing in Ntungamo Municipal Market in western Uganda, the Nile Post reported on Tuesday. Vegetables, meat and fish all cost more. Traders say restocking costs have jumped so sharply that Shs1 million no longer buys what it used to. Some report fewer customers as households struggle to pay for basic food.
A cup of fresh beans now sells for Shs3,000, up from Shs2,000. A basin of tomatoes costs Shs60,000, so vendors sell two tomatoes for Shs1,000. A watermelon goes for Shs15,000. Carrots that traders once bought for Shs50,000 now cost Shs80,000. Three onions sell for Shs2,000 and a kilogramme of groundnuts for Shs9,000. Passion fruits have disappeared from the market altogether, trader Lydia Twiine told the Nile Post.
Meat buyers are paying more too. Beef has risen from Shs15,000 to Shs16,000 per kilogramme, according to the Nile Post's survey of the stalls. Goat meat sells for Shs22,000, and local chicken for between Shs35,000 and Shs40,000. Butcher Gerald Alinitwe said farmers have raised prices because cattle are scarce and demand is high. He added that bringing livestock from distant districts pushes costs up further. Some fish vendors now cut medium-sized fish into smaller portions so customers can afford them.
Fresh food vendor Sebei Ashaba said traders have had to raise prices even at the risk of losing customers. "Things are very expensive. As traders, we have been affected," Ashaba said. Traders blame higher supply and transport costs, high fuel prices and a long dry spell.
Fuel prices are rising in the capital as well. The Daily Monitor reported that diesel at some Kampala stations has climbed to nearly Shs7,500 per litre, up from Shs7,290 last week. Petrol has crossed Shs7,000, up from Shs6,950. That puts diesel up about Shs210 per litre in one week, roughly 2.9 percent.
The increase comes as global crude oil prices fall sharply, the Daily Monitor said. That widens the gap between world markets and what Ugandan motorists pay at the pump. For ordinary households, higher fuel and transport costs feed directly into the price of food on market stalls.