Tanzania: Rice prices cling to historic high

RICE prices are set to continue clinging at the current historical highest level as supply is still far from meeting the demand. The average prices climbed by 45 per cent to 3,200/- a kilo in the last three months and farmers are now setting the price tone through by passing middlemen while export demand is on the higher side. Mr Hasuni Hasuni, a rice wholesale trader at Tandika Market, said prices of the commodity are also pushed up due to high transport costs, despite the government's effort to subsidise fuel pump prices to support users. "I am buying rice from Mbeya, Shinyanga, and mostly Morogoro. I have stopped buying from Shinyanga because transport costs are too high," Mr Hasuni said. He noted that the cost of transporting a sack of rice weighing 100 kg currently is 10,000/- compared to 7,000/- in May from Ifakara and Kilombero of Morogoro region to Dar es Salaam. "To stay on business, we have joined hands to at least realise a thin margin of profit," Mr Hasuni said. A ...