The Ministry of Trade and Industry has deployed teams across the country to inquire into factors behind drastic rise in Irish potato prices.
“We have sent teams to the field. We will have a report this coming Friday after properly understanding the factors behind the price increase,” confirmed Jean-Chrysostome Ngabitsinze, the Minister of Trade and Industry told TNT.
“Currently a kilogramme of potatoes which are even of poor quality goes for Rwf400 at the farm gate and over Rwf500 in urban areas such as Musanze town It is the first time we are experiencing such hike,” Mukeshimana Donatille, a resident of Nyange Sector in Musanze said.
In Kigali, a kilo goes for about Rwf600 which consumers said have never experienced such price before.
“Some farmers chose to grow other crops like wheat because currently, potato seeds cost up to Rwf1,000 from Rwf400 a kilo while inputs like fertilizers doubled to Rwf1,000 a kilo which smallholder farmers can’t afford,” Fabien Bisengimana, another farmer from Nyabihu district said.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages prices in urban areas increased by 29.2 per cent during the month of August compared to the same period last year according to the Consumer Price Index that was released, during weekend, by National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda.
According to Ngabitsinze, the government is mulling exempting some locally processed foods from VAT to be able to tame the prices on local market and to allow them to compete favourably with imported food.
The food that may be exempted according to the minister include rice and maize flour which are locally produced.
