Demand is high in rainy seasons, low in dry periods

Nakati is a green vegetable with a bitter taste.

It is a common vegetable in central Uganda and it is usually eaten as surplus to the main food rather than as a sauce of its own.

Joseph Sserwanga, a trader in Nakawa market, says that though he has never known why, more people buy nakati during the wet season than the dry season. However, Salongo Ibrahim Bemba explains that consumers prefer the vegetable during the wet season because the leaves (which are main eaten part of the vegetable) are not as hard as those harvested during the dry season. He says that consumers touch the plants’ leaves during the dry season and they feel hard. They also feel hard when they are cut and when they are eaten.

So, consumers will usual try softer vegetables as long as the dry season is on, he says.
The dry season does not only make the vegetable hard but it also makes it scarce. Mr Bemba says that this makes it expensive. So, people shun it not only because it’s hard but also because it is often expensive.

A bundle that would go for Shs20,000 during the wet season, will go for Shs50,000 or Shs60,000 during the dry season, according to Mr Bemba. On retail, traders often tie together 10 sticks of the vegetable, which go for Shs500. However, during the times it is scarce, they could tie less than 10 sticks going at the same price.

While the wet season plays a big role is seeing the prices go down, Mr Sserwanga says that it’s hard to keep the vegetable for quite a long time. He explains, “In the wet season, the stem of the vegetable stores water, which is not good for the leaf, as it makes it rot easily.”

In the dry season, it’s easy to keep the vegetable because, he says, the stem is always dry, allowing the leaves not to rot easily. In order for the leaves not to shrink because of heat, Mr Bemba advises one to splash water on the vegetable in the evening so that they stay fresh for longer.

Currently, the prices have started shooting up because of the dry season that has set in since the beginning of this month. A bundle now costs Shs30,000 but the traders predict that by the end of this month, it may be at Shs50,000.

According to research, many people still grow nakati on small scale. This means there are a few suppliers on the market, though Mityana and Gayaza are the biggest suppliers, Mr Bemba says that there are other areas that supply it. He says, “That is why I never run out of nakati no matter what season it is. If there is no longer nakati coming from the two major areas, I contact the others to supply me with the little they have.”