CIBITOKE December 14th (ABP) – It is observed in the markets of Rugombo and Buganda communes in Cibitoke province, a rapid increase in the retail prices of basic products such as rice and maize, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
A woman consumer of those products by the name of Espérance Butoyi, met at the Cibitoke market, is worried about the rising price of rice, which is produced in large quantities locally, and which is the most consumed in the majority of households.
She said this based on the price per kilogram of rice which is currently bought between 2,400 and 2,700 BIF.
She revealed the difficulties for her family, to cover sufficient means for daily food, hence she asks for the intervention of one way or another of the government for the prices of food products to go down.
Mrs. Imelde Nikuza, another consumer, is worried about the price per kilo of maize. She clarified that the price per kilo of average maize is between 1,300 and 1,500 BIF. She fears that this will continue and that tomorrow it will be impossible to find something to eat.
Mr. Mélance Niyonkuru, a maize trader, expressed that he cannot sell for less than 1300 BIF per kilogram, because he gets his supplies in Bujumbura, at 1200 BIF per kilogram. To this is added the transport costs and must sell the kilo at 1300 BIF or 1400 BIF.
According to him, the lack of maize at the local level is linked to the fact that the government has increased the price per kilo of maize during the harvest, which has prompted producers to sell everything for organizations based in other provinces.
As for Cécile Kigeme, a seller of rice, the rice is sold at a loss between 2300 and 2700 BIF, indicating that the sellers are satisfied with a small interest of 30 to 50 BIF per kilo.
Other information sources that the check by ABP contacted, indicate certain reasons that could be at the origin of this situation. It is about the sale of rice and maize to the associations of traders; the hydro-agricultural maintenance of the irrigation canals during a whole month of the season C meant that many did not grow those food products in this period and the water cut off at the Gatura dam in Gihanga commune.
Added to this are the delayed rains on many hills in Rugombo and Buganda communes, which meant that the legumes were slow to produce.