Tomato prices increase for the second time in May

The price of tomato has gone up for the second time in May. According to Esoko, the price of the produce increased by twenty-one percent compared to the twenty percent it recorded last week. A medium size tomato tin could be sold to you at 13 cedis.

Cassava which is reported to be in short supply currently, also recorded the second highest increase in price by five percent.

Three to four tubers of cassava is now selling at 7 cedis 60 pesewas. Gari also followed with 4 percent to close the week at 5 cedis 30 pesewas per medium size tin with local rice following with 2 percent to close the week at 8 cedis 5 pesewas per medium size tin.

Cowpea and yam gained one percent each for the second week in May.

They closed the week at 9 cedis 10 pesewas and 6 cedis 70 pesewas per medium size tin and medium size tuber respectively. On the various markets, Accra recorded the highest gain of fifty –nine percent to close the week at 20 cedis fifty pesewas.

In Takoradi, the commodity gained 21 percent to close at 23 cedis. In Kumasi and Techiman tomato gained 14 and 15 percent to close the week at 19 cedis 30 pesewas and 15 cedis respectively.

Meanwhile the price of millet dropped 2 percent in price to close the week at 7 cedis 30 pesewas per medium size tin.

Soyabean also dropped by one percent to close the week at 6 cedis per medium size tin. Esoko explains price increases Meanwhile Esoko Ghana has attributed the continuous increase in tomato prices to the current weather pattern.

According to Esoko, the situation has also resulted in low output yield insufficient to meet demand resulting in the drastic increase in prices.

Explaining the situation to Citi Business News, the Content Manager of Esoko Ghana, Francis Danso Adjei said, “We have realised that we still do not have tomatoes, a lot of the commodity are within our borders.

“Unfortunately for us too, those who travel outside to neighboring Burkina Faso are not getting a lot of the produce to bring to Ghana.

“Also is the fact that the tomato growing areas still do not have a lot of volumes that will make up for the domestic use and demand;as such we are having this upward trend in the prices of the commodity,” he noted.