Beans are a favorite delicacy in all Rwandan homes and any price hike affects everyone

In July, the price for a kilo of beans was between Rwf 650 and 800 depending on where you shop.

Five months later, in the cheapest locations, a kilo goes for Rwf 1,200 as of this week. This is a 71.4 percent increase.

Retailers say they are buying at high rates from suppliers who have little and are selling it at a hike. The producers for their part blame weather changes that has damaged their farmland.

In regions such as Nyabihu in the west, farmers say unpredictable rains in past months have left their produce rotting before harvest. Farmland is flood, or washed down in hilly regions.

The National Institute of Statistics also changed its inflation estimates.

When Finance Minister Dr Uzziel Ndagijimana appeared before a joint session of Parliament on November 26, he said inflation rate was at 4%, and would peak at 5% by end of the year.

This Wednesday, the Statistics Institute said in November, inflation had skyrocketed to 6.5% due to soaring food prices and price of clothing.

Back to beans, a favorite delicacy in all Rwandan homes, the Ministry of Agriculture also blames climate change for the unbearable prices now in the markets.

Climatic changes across the region has affected production and supply of beans in a such a way that Rwanda is unable to import or export as it has always done, according to Jean Claude Musabyimana, Permanent Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry.

“We are not the only ones who crave for beans, it is a regional phenomenon,” he said.

Government is now planning on increasing the amount it hoards in storage silos, which would be released into the market once supply from farmers is affected.

But as the authorities look for lasting solution, the price at a neighborhood shop doesn’t seem to be headed for slow down.

Source : https://www.chronicles.rw/