NKOMBO KACHEMBA,
TRYNESS TEMBO
Lusaka
THE demand for tomato in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has pushed the price of the vegetable upwards on the local market, with a crate (box) fetching for K500 at Zambia’s largest market, Soweto.
This is about three-fold the normal price.
Tomatoes are mostly produced in Southern, Central and Lusaka provinces, and offloaded at Soweto Market.
Up to 80 lorries deliver the harvest to Soweto Market every day.
However, with the drought that affected most parts of the country, coupled with the huge demand for the vegetable in DRC, supply has been constrained on the local market, pushing the price up.
Market assessments conducted by Zambia Daily Mail in trading places that are on the outskirts of the central business district found one medium-sized tomato fetching K5, while some traders had pegged the commodity at K10 for a heap of four.
In the central business district of Lusaka, a heap of four tomatoes was pegged at K10 and K15 while others had priced theirs at K5, K4 and K3 per count…https://enews.daily-mail.co.zm/welcome/home
