Relief as wholesale maize prices fall to one-year low

Dar es Salaam. Wholesale maize prices fell last month to the lowest level in one year.

Since maize is the staple food for millions of Tanzanians that was a major relief to consumers.

A bulletin for December 2017 by Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews Net) last week showed that the prices decreased in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Iringa.

Fews Net, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development, monitors trends in staple food prices in countries vulnerable to food insecurity.

Generally, prices have fallen by 50 per cent over the last seven months as in May 2017 wholesale maize prices in the three regions were as high as Sh1,200 a kilo.

The fall of wholesale prices reduced maize flour retail prices to Sh1,000 a kilo from Sh1,400 in mid-2016.

The nominal wholesale price in Dar es Salaam fell to Sh700 a kilo last month, lower than Sh800 a kilo during similar month the previous year.

But last month’s price was higher than the five-year average price of Sh650 a kilo.

Wholesale maize prices decreased in Dar es Salaam as supply rose.

The report also showed that the nominal wholesale prices in Arusha fell to Sh550 in September 2017.

In May a kilo of maize was sold at Sh1,200.

According to the report, the nominal wholesale maize prices in Iringa reached Sh450 a kilo in November.

The Bank of Tanzania monthly economic review for October 2017 showed that the wholesale maize prices fell to Sh56,401 for a 100-kilo bag in September from Sh56,984 in September the previous year.