Aster Zeleke, 55, a housewife, was looking around the city’s largest vegetable market, Atikilt Tera, in Piazza, on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 4, 2014. She bought five kilograms of potato and five kilograms of onion, despite planning to buy 10kg of tomatoes and seven of onion.
“The prices have gone up,” she said.
The prices of potato, cabbage and salad have shown a marginal increase, while the prices of tomatoes and onions have gone up significantly.
All four types of tomatoe – gelila, shanti, kochoro and sembersana – available at the store of Leul Melesse, 34, have increased in price. A kilogram of gelila is sold between eight Birr to 10 Br; shante between seven Birr to nine Birr; kochoro from three Birr to five Birr and sembersana from two Birr up to four Birr. Leul’s daily sales of approximately 70 boxes of tomatoes before lent has also gone up to 84 boxes.
Onions have also witnessed a price increase following the commencement of the fasting season. A kilogram of onion is being sold for between eight Birr and 11 Br at Atikilt Tera, based on its quality. But, as the experience of Korma Nega, 27, and other vendors show, the price increase has also been enhanced by the shortage of onions. Vendors have been obliged to sell a lower amount. On Wednesday, March 5, 2014, Korma was selling two quintals of onions a day, compared to three quintals a day before the fasting period.
“The shortage is occasional,” he says. “But I do not know what has caused it.”
The total land covered by onions at the national level grew from 22,035ha, in 2011/12, to 30,478ha, last year. The production of onions for 2011/12 is 3.3 million quintals, compared to the 2.4 million quintals in the previous year, according to the annual survey of the Central Statistics Agency (CSA).
Potatoes represent a deviation from the trend followed by other vegetable items. At Atikilt Tera. The price of potatoes dropped during the fasting period. At Sisay Fereja’s store, a kilogram of potatoes was being sold for between four Birr and five Birr before lent. The price has now inched down to between three Birr and two Birr. Sisay used to sell two quintals of potatoes a day prior to lent, but now sells three quintals a day.
Like potatoes, cabbage has also shown a drop in price during the fasting season. At Atikilt Tera, a kilogram of cabbage now costs two Birr – half the price it used to cost before lent. This is because of a surplus supply in the market. Whereas vendors mostly rely on potatoes from Shashemene in the West Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region (250km from Addis Abeba), a large amount of cabbage is available from Akaki, also in Oromia (East Shewa Zone), 26km from Addis Abeba. Belayneh Kassa, a trader at Atikilt Tera, is now enjoying sales of as much as eight quintals, up from two.
The season has also seen a big surge in the sale of lettuce and sunflower. The price of a kilo has gone up from 14 Br to 16 Br at Shola Gebeya. On Wednesday and Thursday, a kilogram of lettuce was being sold at 18 Br on average in Atikilt Tera, whereas it used to cost 15 Br before lent. Sellers witnessed an average daily sale of 20 kg before lent, they now sell a maximum of 60 kg a day.
Fekrte Keder, 28, a vendor, brings kale from the Menagesha area, located 30km from Addis Abeba, in the Oromia Region. Before lent, she sold around 700 sheaves of kale, sold in units called jemb, containing 35 sheaves each.
For Solomon Dagne, the Agricultural Extension Directorate director at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), market efficiency between farmers and consumers, not just growth in production, helps to stabilise the market.
“Brokers play a paramount role in pushing prices up,” he said. “They do so often for reasons that are far from acceptable.”
The government plans to legalise brokers involved in the sale of agricultural products in the country through the Agricultural Transformation Agency, he said.
Additional land, to be availed during the remainder of the 2013/14 fiscal year, is expected to stabilise market prices for onions and potatoes, says the director.
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