Maize prices decrease by 19pc as supply improves

Dar es Salaam. Maize prices have continued to decrease as supply has improved.

The prices dropped by an average of 19 per cent in one month, according to reports by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.

Reports indicate that in Dar es Salaam, the wholesale price of a 100-kilo bag of maize fell to Sh32,000 last Friday from Sh46,000 on August 6 and Sh70,000 on May 11, this year.

The Citizen survey in various city markets has established that retail prices eased to Sh700 a kilo from Sh1,000 in April while those of maize floor remained at between Sh900 and Sh1,200.

Data show Rukwa District had the lowest price of Sh24,000 for a 100-kilo bag of maize while the highest price of Sh53,000 was in Mwanza.

The Bank of Tanzania’s monthly economic review for July shows that wholesale maize prices fell to an average of Sh41,850 for a 100-kilo bag in June 2018, down from Sh90,149.9 in a similar period last year. An assistant registrar of cooperative societies in Iringa Region, Mr Robert George, told The Citizen that the established warehouse receipt system in storing maize gave farmers confidence to produce more crops.

In Iringa, maize is sold at Sh30,000 and less in villages as there is bumper harvest in the region.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, maize is the leading cereal crop cultivated in Tanzania.

It accounts for 74.3 per cent of all cereals and a total planted area of 6,067,996 hectares in 2017.

Maize is widely cultivated throughout the world, and a greater weight of maize is produced each year than any other grain. In 2014, total world production was 1.04 billion tonnes, led by the United States with 35 per cent of the total. China produced 21 per cent of the global total.