Groundnuts: Price of the legume unstable all year round
Groundnut prices are difficult to predict since some farmers do all they can so that the legume is available.
Photo by Faiswal Kasirye.
What you need to know:
While prices of most crops change with the season, the price of groundnuts is determined by more than this, which is why it is difficult to predict changes.
Groundnuts prices keep fluctuating due to different factors, Kenneth Mugabi at St Balikudembe (Owino) Market says. He says the major cause of fluctuation of prices is the farmers who grow the legume on a large scale.
He explains, “These farmers often use a lot of money to grow groundnuts especially when it’s not the raining season. So, they always want to make returns.”
He says usually the farmers wait for a period when the season for the legume is out before they release their produce. In such circumstances, traders do not have a choice but to buy at the high price set, and the end customer experiences the same.
Changing prices
About one and a half months ago, prices went down by Shs400-Shs1,000 for both the seeds and the pounded groundnuts. A kilogramme of seeds now costs Shs3,000 down from Shs4,000 whereas the pounded groundnuts cost Shs3,800 down from Shs4,500. For wholesale, the seeds cost Shs2,500 down from Shs2,900.
Matthew Katumba, a shop attendant in Nakawa Market says prices started going down in July, and may go up in October. Traders predict prices will keep going up again until late December, when the groundnuts that were planted in April, will be available on the market.
Where they come from
Groundnuts are the second largest legume, to beans, to be planted in the country. However, Mugabi argues that a large number of people grow it on small scale. Masaka, Bunyoro and Gulu grow groundnuts on large scale, enough for the market countrywide. Occasionally, there are groundnuts imported from Tanzania, whose prices, Mugabi says, do not differ from the ones grown locally. And he does not know why the pricing doesn’t differ despite the fact that they come from far.
“Tanzania groundnuts are the best of them all in my view. They are hard to pound but they make a good paste,” Mugabi says, and Katumba agrees adding that even groundnuts from Gulu and Bunyoro make a relatively good paste.
The traders say groundnuts from Masaka are generally good for roasting “because the top layer doesn’t easily go off, even in their raw form”.
Mugabi says these groundnuts can be differentiated by their colour. The ones from Gulu and Bunyoro are black and red whereas those from Masaka and Tanzania are red.
If kept in a dry place, Mugabi says, groundnut seeds can take up to two years before they are attacked by insects or rot away.
The market for the legume is relatively good. Katumba says the groundnuts are eaten by many people, “One can’t go wrong with groundnuts because if one is buying for roasting, another is buying the pounded ones for sauce.”
Groundnuts prices keep fluctuating due to different factors, Kenneth Mugabi at St Balikudembe (Owino) Market says. He says the major cause of fluctuation of prices is the farmers who grow the legume on a large scale.
He explains, “These farmers often use a lot of money to grow groundnuts especially when it’s not the raining season. So, they always want to make returns.”
He says usually the farmers wait for a period when the season for the legume is out before they release their produce. In such circumstances, traders do not have a choice but to buy at the high price set, and the end customer experiences the same.
Changing prices
About one and a half months ago, prices went down by Shs400-Shs1,000 for both the seeds and the pounded groundnuts. A kilogramme of seeds now costs Shs3,000 down from Shs4,000 whereas the pounded groundnuts cost Shs3,800 down from Shs4,500. For wholesale, the seeds cost Shs2,500 down from Shs2,900.
Matthew Katumba, a shop attendant in Nakawa Market says prices started going down in July, and may go up in October. Traders predict prices will keep going up again until late December, when the groundnuts that were planted in April, will be available on the market.
Where they come from
Groundnuts are the second largest legume, to beans, to be planted in the country. However, Mugabi argues that a large number of people grow it on small scale. Masaka, Bunyoro and Gulu grow groundnuts on large scale, enough for the market countrywide. Occasionally, there are groundnuts imported from Tanzania, whose prices, Mugabi says, do not differ from the ones grown locally. And he does not know why the pricing doesn’t differ despite the fact that they come from far.
“Tanzania groundnuts are the best of them all in my view. They are hard to pound but they make a good paste,” Mugabi says, and Katumba agrees adding that even groundnuts from Gulu and Bunyoro make a relatively good paste.
The traders say groundnuts from Masaka are generally good for roasting “because the top layer doesn’t easily go off, even in their raw form”.
Mugabi says these groundnuts can be differentiated by their colour. The ones from Gulu and Bunyoro are black and red whereas those from Masaka and Tanzania are red.
If kept in a dry place, Mugabi says, groundnut seeds can take up to two years before they are attacked by insects or rot away.
The market for the legume is relatively good. Katumba says the groundnuts are eaten by many people, “One can’t go wrong with groundnuts because if one is buying for roasting, another is buying the pounded ones for sauce.”
