Brokers cash in on impending tomato shortage

A pest has cut tomato production by up to 80 per cents in some parts of the country. PHOTO | FILE     

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Whereas consumers create high demand, brokers are cashing in on tomato, as its price soared by 375 per cent in just a month as the shortage begins to bite harder.

Arusha. As tomato becomes a scarce commodity in the Northern Zone regions due to a pest invasion, brokers are cashing in on the crop.

The outbreak of tomato leaf miner mid last year cut harvests of the country’s crop dubbed red gold by over 80 per cent, creating a serious shortage of the commodity.

Barely a fifth of the harvest was realised last season, pushing up the price of tomatoes beyond the reach of the majority of the poor folks.

Whereas consumers create high demand, brokers are cashing in on tomato, as its price soared by 375 per cent in just a month as the shortage begins to bite harder.

A carton of tomato is currently fetching Sh60,000 up from Sh16,000 in January this year, earning brokers multi-million shillings in return.

A tomato farm gate price for a carton at Kahe in Same District, Kilimanjaro Region, for instance, stands at Sh40,000, but the same carton trades at Sh60,000 in major cities, earning brokers a super profit.

Vivian Munisi, a trader at Arusha central market, says demand for tomatoes had since January grown at a fast pace due to the scarcity and that the level of appetite was not expected to subside anytime soon, as growers were grappling with the pest.

“Tanzanian tomato consumers will have to bear with increased costs this year, as prices are expected to rise further following the outbreak of the pest,” chipped in Tertius Luanda, a farmer based in Morogoro Region.

Mr Luanda says the tomato farm gate prices in Morogoro recently stood at Sh50,000 per carton, up from Sh 5,000 before the pest struck mid-last year.

“If the tomato pest will not be controlled anytime soon, the cost will rise even higher as a result of the high demand,” he stressed.

The prices are also gradually changing the cooking habits, as many families are compelled to skip tomato in their recipes, says Esther Urassa, a mother of four from Kilimanjaro Region.

“I now replace tomatoes with carrots in most of the meals I cook and this has become a trend to many families out there,” Ms Urassa explains.

Like consumers, the growers are also shifting their attention from tomatoes to carrots to cater for the growing demand in the local market.

Yusuph Yasini, a former tomato grower from Babati in Manyara Region, says the majority of his colleagues are currently preparing grounds for carrots and watermelon as tomatoes became a loss-making crop.

“Unless the tomato leaf miner pest is controlled, the country could find itself spending a lot of foreign currency to import the crop,” Mr Yasini cautions.

Tanzania is suffering from its first-ever outbreak of tomato leaf miner pest after a lull of 54 years of independence, threatening to wipe out the crop .

Despite the farmers’ outcry, the government is still tight-lipped on control measures.

“Should the pest continue devastating tomatoes, the country stands to lose nearly Sh300 billion (about $176.5 million) in export this year alone, Tanzania Horticultural Association (Taha) Policy and Advocacy manager Anthony Chamanga says.

He cites Magole Farm -- the biggest commercial producer of tomato based in Morogoro which is counting losses as its 35 acres were completely destroyed by the pest.

“We are talking about the loss of nearly 1,000 metric tonnes of tomato worth Sh700 million (about $411,764),” assistant farm manager James Murege says.

Scientifically known as Tuta absoluta, the tomato leaf miner is an invasive alien pest originating from South America.

In Tanzania, its outbreak was first spotted at Ngarenanyuki area on the slopes of Mount Meru mid last year before it spread to the entire Arusha, Kilimanjaro, and Manyara regions.

“The pest is extremely destructive. It has so far devastated farms at Ngarenanyuki, leaving us (farmers) counting our losses,” says Michael Barnaba, a tomato grower.

Mr Barnaba says the impact of the pest at Ngarenanyuki -- one of Tanzania’s major tomato producing areas -- may cut production of tomatoes by 80 per cent this season, as growers had abandoned the crop in favour of others.

“It’s so painful that we lost all our tomatoes last season, yet the government remains tight-lipped,” he laments.

Official record shows Ngarenanyuki, where the crop is grown four times a year, produces over 26,000 metric tonnes per season and about 104,000 netric tonnes a year.

Meru District Council trade officer Nuru Mollel says Ngarenanyuki tomatoes were not only eaten in Mwanza, Arusha, and Dar es Salaam, but also reached the dining tables in Mombasa, Kenya, as well as in Europe.

Experts say, in the worst cases, the pest infestation could lead to 100 per cent loss of the crop, as the pest was highly polyphagous and that it could attack a wide range of solanaceaous -- crops sharing a family with tomato including potatoes, brinjals and mnafu.

Dr Brigitte Nyambo from African Insect Science for Food and Health says the pest was officially reported in October 2014, but it must have arrived much earlier.

According to Dr Nyambo, the pest invasion has spread as far as to coast regions of Tanga and Morogoro, threatening production of tomatoes in those areas.

There are estimated 45,000 smallholder farmers in Arusha, Manyara, Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions engaged in the production of fruits and vegetables including tomatoes.

According to a recent survey by the Tanzania Agriculture Sample Census, the growers are producing 518,312 metric tonnes of tomatoes per year, representing 51 per cent of the total fruit and vegetable production.

Taha chief executive officer Jacqueline Mkindi said her association had financed the survey whose scientific findings it shared with the government for a joint pest control plan.

“Basing on information from the tomato growers, the pest, which does not respond to existing control measures, is new to the areas,” Ms Mkindi says in an interview with The Citizen.

She cautions that concerted efforts to identify an appropriate management plan for curbing the pest were required, as findings of the survey show the damage arising from it is considerably high.

“My heart is bleeding, for time is running out fast for Tanzania’s tomatoes. The more we delay to act, the more the pest spreads, devastating the crop at the expense of poor farmers,” Ms Mkindi regrets.