Tanzania: Outcry as wheat flour prices shoot up in Dar es Salaam

Retail and wholesale prices for wheat flour have shot up in Dar es Salaam due to an alleged shortage of the product in the country.

Traders in various food markets including that of Mwenge, Mwananyamala, Makumbusho and Buguruni told The Citizen during its survey that the wholesale price of wheat flour has increased by Sh3, 500 within a month.

James John, a food retailer and wholesaler at Mwenge food market said the price of wheat flour began to rise slowly in early days of March, at a difference of Sh500 and gradually shooting up.

The price of a five-kilogram package of wheat flour, he said, is currently Sh12, 000 from Sh9, 500, one month ago.

"Slowly but sure, the price started to rise by Sh500 every week. It was Sh9, 500 in the first week but it reached Sh10,000 in the second week then Sh10, 500 until it reached 12,000," James said.

He is not sure whether the price will go down or not, because there is a shortage of the product in the market.

“It is not easy to access wheat flour at the moment. I just heard from our suppliers that there are some stocks of wheat flours awaiting to get to the market very soon but I’m not sure when,” he said.

Joshua Lameck, a trader at Mwananyamala food market said they (traders) don’t sell below five kilograms of wheat flours.

"In our shop, we don’t sell wheat flour at retail but in wholesale. We sell 5kg bags, 25kg bags and 50kg bags,” he noted.

He said it is not profitable to sell the product in retail form due to the shortage of the wheat flours.

Dar es Salaam residents, including Khadija Juma, are now digging deeper into their pocket to buy wheat flour.

Khadija who resides at Mbezi Mwisho but sells chapati and tea at Makumbusho bus stand told The Citizen that she is currently buying a kilogram of wheat flour at retail price of Sh2, 000 up from Sh1, 500 she used to pay one month ago.

"As you can see the price has gone too high for us (food vendors) and it has affected our incomes. Yet we still sell chapati at Sh500,” she said.