Mona El-Fiqi finds out the reasons behind the recent hikes in some vegetables prices During the past two months, consumers were shocked by an unprecedented increase in the prices of some vegetables, including those of onions, potatoes and tomatoes. The price hike started in Ramadan, but people believed the rise was merely transitory and that it would soon return to its previous levels. Despite this, the price increase continues and it is common to find tomatoes at LE3 per kilo, onions at LE4 and potatoes at a high of LE3.5 per kilo. The reasons behind the increase are unclear. As are the culprits for the high prices. Is it the fault of farmers, exporters or traders? Experts believe the increases are due to simple market forces (supply and demand) and the lack of any market control regulations. This has failed to placate consumers who complain that vegetables prices are far too high when compared to this time last year. "Last year the price of one kilo of tomato and potato did not exceed LE1 and at that time these prices were high but it is now three times that." said Nagwan Ali, a housewife and mother of two children. Vegetables are a necessary staple for low income families since the prices of meat and chicken rose sharply in February 2006 due to "bird flu" which led to a severe shortage of chicken in the markets. "I can not afford to buy few kilos of vegetables to cover my family's needs for only two days at LE30," added Ali. The increase of onion, tomato and potato prices adversely affect a big number of consumers since these vegetables are essential for preparing almost all Egyptian meals. Safaa Mohamed, an employee and a mother of three children said: "I was shocked to find the onion price is LE4 per kilo. I stopped cooking some meals such as koshari (an Egyptian meal made of rice, beans and onions) because it needs a big amount of onion." Some consumers blame exporters for increasing the levels of vegetable exports, thus causing shortages in the local markets and so artificially increasing prices. Exporters deny this accusation. Ali Eissa, chairman of Exporters General Division at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, and an exporter of agricultural commodities said: "I wish exporters could raise their vegetables exports but in fact it did not happen." The levels of Egyptian vegetables exports are the same or even less than that of last year. For example, Eissa explained that the volume of Egyptian exports of onion decreased from 150,000 tonnes during the third quarter of 2005 to 120,000 tonnes at the same period in 2006. Potato exports, according to Eissa, were also reduced from 360,000 tonnes in the third quarter of 2005 to 320,000 tonnes compared to the same period in 2006. "Although raising exports volume is [something] we wish we could do, exporters are not to blame for high prices of some vegetables." said Eissa. Explaining the real reasons behind the increase of prices, Eissa said that vegetables have no price controls. Instead, many factors interplay to determine the prices. Important among these is the issue of cultivated land. Egyptian farmers, similarly to farmers all over the world, care about the more profitable product. When a farmer finds that onions, for example, are selling for a low price during one season, he stops cultivating onions the following season. "The result is less cultivated onion-producing land and since the price is left according to supply and demand, the onion price is raised due to the less available amounts of onion," Eissa added. Experts expected that onion prices will soon go down when the new harvest reaches the markets. As for the humble tomato, the story is different; the high temperature in this summer season caused the tomato harvest to be removed from the fields early. The harvest, which should be collected in November, was collected early in September, leading to a tomato shortage in November and prices of LE3 per kilo. Potatoes are another case entirely. Eissa said that the increase in numbers of fast food chains which serve potatoes as an essential part of each meal caused high demand on potatoes. "In addition there is a big number of factories which produce fried potato chips. So it is expected that potato prices will continue in their high levels during the coming period." Eissa explained. Consumers blame traders for raising vegetables prices. Defending traders, Mohamed Hamed, a vegetable seller in one of Nasr City's markets, said traders are not to blame for the increase in prices. Rather, it is the farmers and wholesalers who can control prices. "A trader just adds a small profit margin to the product price." said Hamed. According to Hamed, small traders can not control prices since they only care about selling the vegetables before being spoiled. "Vegetables can easily be spoiled so we can not keep them to raise prices but prices are left according to supply and demand." added Hamed. To protect consumers, experts suggested that the government should play a role to control vegetables and fruits prices in the markets. Eissa said the governmental cooperatives should start selling vegetables at reasonable prices in an attempt to fight the greedy traders and farmers.
